To contact us and to know the PEC goals, click on "CONTACT - LINKS" - to read our latest statement, click on: "PECNEWS" - For the updated list of journalists killed, click on "CASUALTIES" - Have a look on "PEC AWARD" for the Prize given annually by the PEC board - See latest news in the fight against impunity on our page "NOIMPUNITY" - Click on "DOCUMENTS" to read some documents of reference adopted by the United Nations on the safety of journalists (English, French, Spanish or Arabic)

08.12.2016. Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein jailed in Panama since 3 weeks. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urges authorities to immediately release the dutch journalist. On 15 November, Ornstein was arrested on his arrival at Panama's international airport and charged with slander and libel in connection with articles he published on his website about the alleged fraudulent commercial activity of a Canadian citizen, Monte Friesner, who is currently facing criminal proceedings in Panama. The journalist faces a prison term of 38 months and he has not received his rights to adequate legal assistance, according to his lawyer.

06.12.2016. Two more Iraqi journalists killed. The PEC is deeply saddened upon learning of the murder of two Iraqi journalists. Iraq is now the most dangerous country in the world this year with 15 media workers killed, just before Syria.

Shoukri Zeneldin (left), from KNN, was found dead in Amadiya, near Dohuk, on 1 December. Mohammed Thabet al-Obeidi (right), chief of radio Baba Gurgur and member of the Iraqi Media Network, was shot down in Kirkuk on 6 December.

04.12.2016. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder of two Finnish journalists, killed on 4 December in the town of Imatra, in the southeast region of Finland.Katri Ikävalko, 36, worked for the local daily newspaper Uutisvuoksi and Anne Vihavainen, 52, worked for the regional daily newspaper Etelä-Saimaa in Imatra. They were killed by a lone gunman who also killed the Chair of the City Council of Imatra, Ms Tiina Wilén-Jäppinen. The PEC trusts that the authorities will conduct a swift and transparent investigation and bring the assailant to justice. It is not clear if the killings had any connection to the journalists’ professional activities.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is saddened by the death of 20 journalists who faced their unfortunate fate in a plane crash of a Columbian aircraft Monday night close to the Columbian city of Medellin. PEC expressed his shock for the death of 20 Journalists who accompanied a Brazilian football team and stressed that it is one of the worst accidents facing the profession with a very high tally and has hit hard on the sports media community. The PEC presents its condolences to the families of the killed journalists who lost their lives in this horrible catastrophe.

23.11.2016. PHILIPPINES. Year Seven After the Ampatuan Massacre: Still No Justice. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) marks the seventh anniversary of the massacre of 58 civilians, including 32 journalists, in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao and calls again for justice. Read the statement of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibily, rewarded by the PEC annual Prize in 2010 (go to our page NO IMPUNITY)

08.11.2016. NO TO IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS: Time has come to turn words into action. A conference convened by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Brussels on ending impunity for crimes targeting journalists and media workers has called for action to tackle the global crisis of impunity. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes and strongly supports the IFJ recommendation to address current weaknesses in the international legal framework for greater media protection through the adoption of a new convention on the safety of journalists.

(read the IFJ press release on our page NO IMPUNITY)

08.11.2016. IRAQ. MORE JOURNALISTS INJURED IN THE BATTLE OF MOSUL. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expresses its serious concern. The most recent attack on journalists was carried out by the so called Islamic State (ISIS) on 5th November. The correspondent for Al Forat Satellite Channel Ahmed Al-Zaidi was injured by shrapnel in his body following a rocket explosion. Since the battle to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIS Al Forat Satellite Channel have also encountered serious injury to photojournalist Arwa Abdul Karim Al-Tamimi who was wounded following a landmine explosion. At least ten journalists were wounded since October. At the same time the PEC welcomes the release of Japanese journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka Monday in Iraq. He was captured last month while reporting on the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS and taken into custody by Kurdish-led forces.

2.11.2016. INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes a new report by the Director-General of UNESCO showing stronger political will to monitor and report on murderous attacks on media workers. In this year’s Report, 40 out of 62 countries where journalists have been killed in connection with their work have responded to the Director-General’s request. In 2014, date of the previous report, only 16 out of the 59 countries concerned had provided information. At the same time, the Report notes that fewer than one in ten cases of killed journalists is resolved by the judiciary, according to the information received from those Member States that have responded to the Director-General’s requests for data about judicial follow up (read more on our page NO IMPUNITY)

Launching today its second edition of a new index aiming to clarify the level of safety/danger for media representatives, the PEC added that the scale is going from 1 to 5, the highest danger level, which reflects high risks of conflict-related accidents, like kidnapping, arbitrary detention, deliberate murder, injuries, absence of independent judiciary to investigate crimes against journalists and to prosecute the responsible.

For the International Day to End Impunity: http://en.unesco.org/day/endimpunity

31.10.2016. TURKEY. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) CONDEMNED THE LATEST WAVE OF ARRESTS OF MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA. Police in Istanbul raided the offices of the opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet and detained at least 12 of the newspaper's journalists and directors. Reportedly, since the attempted coup in Turkey in July, more than 125 media outlets have been closed and 120 journalists detained. Anti-terrorism legislation goes far beyond what may be justifiable under a state of emergency. PEC urged the authorities to restore media freedom and recalled that journalists must be able to do their work in a free and safe manner, without fear of being harassed, intimidated, threatened or detained.

FRANCE. THE PRESS FREEDOM IN DANGER. In an exclusive interview with the PEC only a few months from the French presidential election, the cofounder of Mediapart Laurent Mauduit (photo) warns that new media empires are a serious threat to democratic pluralism and that journalistic independence is substantially undermined in France

22.10.2016. TWO MORE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN NORTHERN IRAQ, OTHERS INJURED. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is sad to learn that two journalists were killed in northern Iraq. Ahmed Hajr Oglo from Türkmeneli TV was killed on October 21 in Kirkuk apparently by a jihadist sniper. Cameraman Ali Raysan from Al Sumaria TV was killed in Al-Shura, near Mosul, on October 22. The PEC warns of high risks journalists face in the battle of Mosul. At least six journalists were injured so far.

16.10.2016. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) CONDEMNS NEW ATTACKS AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN AFGHANISTAN AND YEMEN.

In AFGHANISTAN, PEC is shocked by the assassination of a reporter for Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) Yaqoob Sharafat (photo) in Zabul on 16th October.According to Zabul police chief Gen. Mirwais Noorzai the RTA reporter for southern Kandahar province was attacked in Rasala village of Qalat city, Zabul’s capital.The armed men opened fire at Yaqoob Sharafat and killed him on the spot. Police had launched a probe into the murder.

On 9th October unidentified gunmen have assaulted and snatched car, laptop and cell phones of the Afghanistan Times’ editor-in-chief, Abdul Saboor Sarir (photos), in Kabul. Abdul Saboor Sarir sustained head injuries in the attack. It is not the first time that Mr. Sarir came under attack. He was repeatedly threatened by different groups of dire consequences.

PEC requests the afghan government to immediately commence investigations in order to identify the suspects and take swift action against those responsible of both attacks.

In YEMEN, on Saturday the 8th October the Saudi -led coalition have carried out a series of devastating airstrikes on a funeral procession in the capital of Yemen that killed more than 140, and over 500 people were injured including cameraman Hashim Al-Shami of Al-Masirah Satellite Television. Since the War on Yemen began more than 15 journalists have been killed, and eight media outlasts were deliberately destroyed. The PEC requests that all parties fully implement the international law on safety of journalists working in war zones; which include the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1738, the UN Human Rights Council Resolutions on the Safety of Journalists, the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. The PEC regrets that the Human Rights Council has not decided at its last session to undertake an international investigation into the violations committed by all parties in Yemen including against journalists, media worker, and media outlasts.

03.10.2016. LIBYA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) mourns the death of prominent Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans (photo) killed covering a government offensive against ISIL in the group's Libyan stronghold of Sirte, a city 450km east of Tripoli. Dr Akram Gliwan, spokesman for a hospital in Misrata, told the AFP news agency that Oerlemans was shot in the chest by an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group sniper. Oerlemans was working in Libya for a number of media organisations, including the Belgian weekly Knack magazine.

29.09.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes a new resolution on the safety of journalists adopted by the United Nations, urges for full implementation and for a stronger political will (read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS, full text of the resolution A/HRC/33/L6 on our page DOCUMENTS)

23.09.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 33rd session. Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign on item 7: the PEC expresses its deep concern over the serious Israeli escalation of arresting Palestinian journalists (read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

19.09.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 33rd session. Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) - general debate item 4: Turkey is now the largest prison in Europe for media workers - it must not become a new Mexico with journalists murdered, intimidated, forced to censor themselves or to flee their country(read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

14.09.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 33rd session. Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) - general debate on the oral update by the High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein (photo): "The PEC regrets that freedom of expression has deteriorated in several countries since the previous session of the Human Rights Council in June. Since January, at least 95 journalists were killed in 25 countries. Since the 32nd session, 21 journalists were murdered, other journalists are missing (...) The Human Rights Council must do more to investigate all these cases (...) We need an independent mechanism to follow up" (read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

08.09.2016. TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED IN ONE WEEK IN KENYA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urges police to investigate the mysterious death of two journalists in Kenya. One journalist, Joseph Masha, was killed in Kilifi County on Saturday 3 September. The journalist who worked for The Standard is said to have had dinner with a local politician to mend fences following frosty relations between the two. Family members revealed that the politician had complained of a story that appeared on The Standard newspaper on August 31 in which Mr Masha analysed Kilifi politics. Another Kenyan reporter Dennis Otieno was murdered at his home in Trans Nzoia county on Thursday over a photograph in his possession. Hundreds of other journalists protested in the capital Nairobi against threats and intimidation. The PEC joins Kenyan journalists to demand the government do more to protect reporters against attacks.

06.09.2016. SYRIA: ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED IN ALEPPO. Shamel Al Ahmed (photo) was one of the Aleppo Media Center founders. He passed away on 2 September in an hospital in Gaziantep after a struggle with his wounds being hit with a barrel bomb in Aleppo two weeks ago along with his wife who passed away four days ago. He was well known with his good moral and a bright smile. He captured with his camera, horror and poetry of a city guilty only of wanting to be free, to be against the dictatorial regime of Assad, against the terror of his bombs, of those of its allies.

18.08.2016. BURUNDI: journalist Jean Bigirimana missing for four weeks. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) asks the United Nations to investigate the disappearance of the Burundian journalist Jean Bigirimana (photo) missing for four weeks. Bigirimana, a reporter with the independent weekly newspaper Iwacu, left his home in the capital Bujumbura on July 22. He has not been seen or heard from since. The worst is feared: Iwacu's editor in Burundi has issued a cry for help after two bodies were found during a search for his missing journalist. There are more than 100 Burundian journalists in exile, and the very last media houses have been facing extraordinary pressures and threats for over a year now. Instead of helping the search being conducted by the Iwacu team, the police tried to obstruct it.

17.08.2016. TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED IN IRAQ.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) mourns two new fatalities in the north of Iraq. Widat Hussein Ali, a 28-year-old reporter for RojNews, a news agency that supports the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was kidnapped in Dohuk and then murdered on 13 August. Mustafa Said a cameraman with Kurdistan TV, a satellite TV channel owned by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), was killed on 14 August while covering the fighting in the north of the city of Mosul between Islamic State and kurdish forces.

08.08.2016. PAKISTAN. TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED, OTHERS INJURED IN A SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK AT THE CIVIL HOSPITAL IN QUETTA.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the senseless terrorist attack which killed around 70 people, among them patients, mourners, lawyers and journalists who had gathered at the hospital to mourn the Balochistan Bar Association President who was shot dead earlier in the day. Cameramen from Dawn News and Aaj TV were killed in this particularly appalling attack. The PEC is sad to hear that journalists are increasingly caught in the middle of violence in Pakistan.

28.07.2016. TURKEY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC ) joins the solidarity campaign launched by the European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) with the Turkish journalists following the new attacks on press freedom and human rights in Turkey since the coup attempt on 15 July. We invite PEC partners to help the Turkish colleagues by:

sharing in your social media and website the visual “Did you know? Journalism is not a crime” #JournalismIsNotACrime

The EFJ and the IFJ are also monitoring the situation regarding detained/arrested journalists and press freedom violations since 15 July. A list of detained journalists is available here and all the alerts submitted to the Council of Europe platform for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists, here.

22.07.2016. UKRAINE. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the murder of Pavel Sheremet. Pavel Sheremet (44, photo), who worked for the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper died when the car he was driving exploded shortly after it started. Sheremet was a well-known journalist and political analyst specializing in relations between Russia and Ukraine. The authorities of Kiev must act swiftly to bring the killers to justice.

21.07.2016. TURKEY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is very worried by the attacks targeting the media following the military failed coup. PEC calls the international community to condemn blatant violations of freedom of the press and to take concrete measures while any form of criticism on the ground is being muzzled, thus heavily threatening democratic values in Turkey.

The most dangerous countries for media workers were in the first six months of 2016: Afghanistan with 10 journalists killed, then Syria with 9 killed. Mexico follows with 8 killed, then Iraq and Yemen with 7 in each country. 5 journalists were killed in Guatemala, and 4 in each of the following countries: India, Pakistan, Turkey. 2 journalists were killed in the Philippines, 2 in Russia and 2 in El Salvador. One journalist was killed in the following countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Honduras, Libya, Serbia, United States, Somalia and Venezuela.

The Islamic State group has reportedly released a video that shows five media activists from Syria being executed according to an Associated Press (AP) report. "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights received a copy of a video issued by the 'Islamic state' in Deir Ezzor, where it showed 5 media activists from Deir Ezzor province," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a post on its verified Facebook page. It gave the name of the five as Samer Mohamad al-Aboud, Mahmoud Shaaban al-Haj Kheder, Mohamad Abdulkader al-Essa, Mostafa Haj Hasa and SOHR activist Sami Jodat al-Rabah.

"The first one was executed by cutting his throat with a knife, the second activist was executed by tying him to his laptop then tying his laptop to explosives and detonating it inside his house," said SOHR in the post. It went on to add that "the third activist was executed by tying him to a metal door and choking him using an iron chain, the fourth one was executed by slaughtering him using a sharp object". It also said: "And the last activist was executed by hanging his camera to his neck and detonating it after tying him it to the balcony of his house". The post also said the activists had been executed on charges of "acting against the Islamic state, communicating with outside parties and receiving funds, and other charges." The AP report quoted the SOHR as saying that Isis had abducted the five activists in October last year and executed them in December. The PEC adds their names to its casualties' list just today because we heard the news only now.

The PEC pays tribute to the courage of those who continue to inform us despite the barbarity of such acts.

21.06.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 32nd session. Oral statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) - interactive dialogue with the Commission of inquiry: all responsible for war crimes must be prosecuted (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

20.06.2016. Another dark day for media freedom in Turkey, RSF’s Turkey representative jailed.Istanbul's Second Criminal Court of Peace ordered Erol Önderoğlu's arrest, alongside journalist and writer Ahmet Nesin and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (photo), on charges of making propaganda for a terrorist group for taking part in a campaign of solidarity with the Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls on the Turkish authorities to drop all charges and release them immediately. We call on you to sign the petition to #FreeErol.

UPDATE: Erol Önderoglu, Sebnem Korur Fincanci and Ahmet Nesin were released after 10 and 11 days in an Istanbul prison, but charges are not dropped.

16.06.2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 32nd session. Oral statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) - interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression: the situation of media in Yemen is catastrophic. It is time for the Human Rights Council to create an international commission of inquiry on the situation in Yemen (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

The PEC Award 2016 goes to Zhanna Nemtsova and the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom in Russia.The PEC Award committee for the defense of journalists handed over the award on Monday 6 June in Geneva to Zhanna Nemtsova (photo) the eldest daughter of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader killed on 27 February 2015 at the Kremlin Walls. The award was designated to the Foundation that she created last year.

Receiving the PEC award at the Swiss Press Club in Geneva

(here with the PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen), Zhanna

Nemtsova said : "I strongly believe in free journalism (...)

Unfortunately we now in Russia don't only have independent

media. We have propaganda. My father put it this way "

Russian propaganda is a weapon of mass destruction of

people's brains". It breeds hatred towards the so-called

enemies, the West, and to opponents of the regime within the

country and leads to aggressive behavior. Finally it aims at

destroying people 's ability of critical thinking. Russian state-

controlled media present a very simple picture of the world

where there are only two colors: black and white".

05.06.2016. TWO MORE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN: PEC is dismayed by the death in fightings of one American journalist David Gilkey and a local freelance Zabibullah Tamanna in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan on Sunday 5 June.Zabibullah Tamanna (left) and David Gilkey (right), an American photojournalist with the National Public Radio (NPR), both embedded with the Afghan Special Forces, were killed when the armored vehicle in a convoy they were travelling in was struck by an 82mm rocket in a Taliban ambush near Marjah in Helmand.

Gilkey, 50, was an award-winning journalist who had extensive experience covering conflicts in Gaza, South Africa, Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan. Tamanna was a freelance journalist who worked for NPR as well as the NBC News and Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency. He had also worked with Chinese news agency Xinhua as a photojournalist. So far, 10 media workers have been killed in Afghanistan this year, a very heavy toll.

25.05.2016. AZERBAIJAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) congratulates Khadija Ismayilova. International mobilization has paid.The prominent Azerbaijani investigative journalist has been released on probation after her detention was widely criticised by activists. Khadija Ismayilova was arrested in December 2014 and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail in September last year. She was freed by the country’s supreme court on Wednesday 25 May after judges ruled her sentence would be changed to a three-and-a-half-year suspended term. Speaking after she left court (photo), Ismayilova said she would persist with her reporting and push for a full acquittal. “I will continue my journalist work with renewed energy,” she said. “I feel younger and more energetic, and I will fight until the end.”

THREE REPORTERS MISSING IN COLOMBIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is worried.All sides in the Colombian civil conflict must do their utmost to ensure the safety of all media personnel. Two Colombian TV journalists may have been kidnapped in Colombia's dangerous northeast Catatumbo region, their employer said May 24. Reporter Diego D'Pablos and camera operator Carlos Melo, of Bogotá's RCN TV station, were investigating the disappearance of Salud Hernandez-Mora, a Spanish-Colombian journalist who was last seen Saturday afternoon in the village of El Tarra, according to her employer. PEC demands the release of the three journalists.

UPDATE: the three journalists kidnapped were released on 27 May after being held by the guerrilla group ELN.

DISTURBING TREND IN INDIA: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder or two journalists in two days. Rajdeo Ranjan (photo), bureau chief of daily Hindustan, was shot dead in Bihar’s Siwan on Friday 13 May. A group of five criminals on motorcycles shot two bullets at 42-year-old Rajdeo Ranjan when he was on his way home from office on a bike, according to the Hindustan Times. The crime came a day after a Hindi television journalist was shot dead in Jharkhand. Unidentified people shot dead Indradev Yadav, a journalist working for a Hindi news channel from Chatra, late on Thursday evening. PEC requires a full investigation.

SYRIA. GOOD NEWS ! THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES THE RELEASE OF THREE SPANISH JOURNALISTS AFTER ALMOST A YEAR IN CAPTIVITY. Reports suggested they had been kidnapped by al-Nusra Front. They arrived in Madrid on Sunday 8 May and were received by friends and family (photo). The trio were flown on a Spanish defence ministry jet from Turkey. A statement from the spanish prime minister's office said that "allied and friendly" countries had helped to secure the journalists' release, highlighting the role of Turkey and Qatar which had provided assistance "especially in the final phase".

SHAMEFUL DAY IN TURKEY: Newspaper editor Can Dündar sentenced to more than five years for state secrets offence on same day man tried to shoot him outside court (photo)

“In the space of two hours we have experienced two assassination attempts: one was done with a gun, the other was judicial,” said Can Dündar, speaking in front of the court after the verdict was announced Friday, May 6. “The [jail sentences] we received are not just to silence us. The bullet was not just to silence us. This was done to all of us, to scare us into silence, to make us stop talking", he added, according to reports. Dündar, editor-in-chief of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, and fellow journalist Erdem Gül, its Ankara bureau chief, were acquitted on charges of trying to overthrow the government, but convicted of publishing secret state documents. Dündar was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison and Gül to five years. “This is a verdict against journalism and we don’t accept it,” said Gül. The verdict came on a dramatic day in which an attacker fired several shots in quick succession at Dündar, who was unharmed. NTV television reported that one of its reporters had suffered minor injuries from ricocheting bullets. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the verdict and the attack against the journalists and urges the court of appeal to acknowldege that Dündar and Gül were only doing their job.

World Press Freedom Day 2016 - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing of 40 journalists since the beginning of 2016 and is launching a new index to rate countries according to their safety for journalists

MAY 2016. EGYPT: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) protests against the storming of the headquarters of the Egypt's Press Syndicate in Cairo and the arrest of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El-Sakka on Sunday evening. The PEC supports its Egyptian colleagues on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.The Egypt's Press Syndicate has called on members to continue a round-the-clock sit-in at the HQ (photo) until Wednesday's general assembly. The interior ministry said in a statement Monday, May 2 that it followed all legal procedures while carrying out the arrests. The two journalists are accused of "inciting violation of the protest law, disrupting security and attempting to destabilise the country," the ministry added. Amr Badr, editor-in-chief and founder of Yanair (January) news portal, and journalist Mahmoud El-Sakka, who works for the same website, were staging a sit-in in the syndicate to protest against their arrest warrants as well as the storming of their homes by security forces last month. Syndicate head Yehia Qallash and other journalists said the ministry's move was a clear violation of Egyptian press law.

APRIL 2016. TURKEY: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) protests vigorously against targeting or banning foreign press correspondents. The PEC condemns the arrest on Saturday 23 April and the travel ban imposed by Turkish authorities against the Dutch journalist Ebru Umar (photo) for writing tweets considered critical of President Erdogan.She was later released but said she is not allowed to leave the country and must report to police in a few days, even though she was due to fly back to the Netherlands on Sunday. German newspaper, Bild said on Sunday that one of its photographers was expelled from Turkey after a visit from Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russian journalist Tural Kerimov, the Turkey bureau chief for Sputnik news agency, was stopped last week by a border control officer who said the journalist was a persona non grata for the Turkish authorities, before sending him back to Russia. And on 19 April, Turkish border officials applied a similar entry ban to the German journalist Volker Schwenk, the Cairo correspondent of Germany’s ARD TV. The way the Turkish administration prohibits the work of the press is totally unacceptable, stressed the PEC.

APRIL 2016. SYRIAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN TURKEY.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns a new attack in the Turkish town of Gazientep. Aleppo Today TV journalist Mohammed Zaher Al-Shurwat (36) was in intensive care on Sunday 10 April after he was shot in the head by a masked gunman in southern Turkey according to news reports. He died at the hospital 12 April. Mohammed Zaher Al-Shurwat worked for Aleppo Today TV, a television station known for opposing the Islamic State group. While many journalists choose Gazientep as a base after fleeing Syria, the town has become increasingly dangerous with a number of journalists, media workers and activists being attacked and killed there in the past six months, warned the PEC. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of four journalists in Turkey in six months. Another journalist had escaped an assault last month.

US hostage released in Syria.Finally a sign of hope for the American journalist Austin Tice. Austin Tice’s family expressed their hope that their son, who disappeared in Syria in August 2012, might be released. Russian authorities said on Friday 8 April that they helped to secure the release of US freelance photographer Kevin Dawes who was abducted in Syria in 2012 after crossing the border from Turkey. The Tice family released a statement saying: “We are very happy for the Dawes family with the news of Kevin’s safe release and we can only imagine the relief he and his loved ones must be experiencing. We sincerely hope Kevin’s release is a precursor of Austin’s imminent freedom.” PEC expressed the same hope after waiting for more than three years for news of his whereabouts.

APRIL 2016. TWO BRAZILIAN JOURNALISTS INJURED IN SHOOTING IN TWO WEEKS. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is appalled by the climate of violence in Brazil and calls for a thorough investigation. Ivan Pereira Costa who runs the local news website Veja Noticiaswas hospitalized after a shooting attack on Monday 4 April in the small Amazonian town of Cujubim, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Pereira wrote about peasant occupations and about organized crime in the region. On March 27, Brazilian radio journalist Jair Pereira Teixeira survived after being shot in the northeastern state of Ceará. Last year, eight journalists were killed in Brazil, according to the PEC.

MARCH 2016. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN DANGER IN TURKEY. "Threats, insults and oppression is almost your daily life", said the Turkish journalist and writer Ece Temelkuran (photo) in an exclusive interview for the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC). "When it comes to freedom of expression the coercion by the governing party is limitless".

Read the full interview on PEC NEWS

MARCH 2016: THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) IS UPSET BY THE ARREST OF FLORENCE HARTMANN HELD IN ISOLATION IN THE HAGUE AND CALLS FOR HER IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The former spokesperson of the Tribunal and a former correspondent for French Newspaper Le Monde in the Balkans,has been jailed on Thursday 24 March at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Hartmann was convicted of contempt of court in 2009 for revealing in a book that the tribunal had withheld crucial information on the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 from the nearby international court of justice.

Florence Hartmann has been released on Tuesday 29 March after completion of more than two-thirds of her sentence. The petition has obtained more than 5000 signatures in 5 days.

MARCH 2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 31st session. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is concerned about the recent dangerous escalatory step taken by Israel shutting down Palestinian media outlets (read the statement delivered by the PEC at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS)

MARCH 2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 31st session. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is very worried by the deterioration of the freedom of the press in Turkey. Ten days ago, Turkey seized one of the country's leading newspapers. We call upon Turkey to reverse its decision to seize Zaman and urge the international community to speak out against Turkey's repeated attempts to stifle a free and independent media (read the statement delivered by the PEC at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS)

MARCH 2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 31st session. At least 88 journalists were killed in Syria in 5 years. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls upon the Commission of Inquiry to give the information it has gathered to governments in order to identify those responsible, to arrest them and to prosecute them. Impunity must not prevail (read the statement delivered at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS).

MARCH 2016. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 31st session. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls upon the UN Special rapporteur on summary executions to fully investigate all crimes targeting journalists in order to bring the perpetrators to justice (read the statement delivered at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS).

MARCH 2016. Journalists covering torture assaulted at Chechnya border. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns an attack on six Russian et foreign journalists investigating human rights abuses in the north Caucasus region and calls on authorities in the Russian republic of Ingushetia to hold accountable those responsible. According to reports, around 20 masked men wielding knives and clubs ambushed the journalists in their minibus as they attempted to cross from Ingushetia into neighbouring Chechnya together with representatives of a Russian anti-torture NGO. Both foreign journalists involved, Swedish Radio’s Maria Persson Lofgre and Øystein Windstad, a reporter for the Norwegian daily Ny Tid, were hospitalised with non-severe injuries.

MARCH 2016. TURKEY. SIGN THE PETITION TO END TURKEY'S CRACKDOWN ON PRESS FREEDOM. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins Index on Censorship, writers, journalists and artists from around the world to condemn the shocking seizure of Turkish independent media group, Zaman.

"Today Turkey seized one of the country's leading newspapers. In so doing, Turkey has confirmed that it is no longer committed to a free press, which is the bedrock of any democratic society. We, the undersigned, ask the court to reverse its decision to seize Zaman and urge the international community to speak out against Turkey's repeated attempts to stifle a free and independent media."

MARCH 2016. SYRIA. PEC condemns artillery attacks in Syria wounding foreign journalists on press tour.A group of 33 foreign journalists have been targeted in an attack in the northern Syrian province of Latakia. The group was on a trip organized by Russian officials. Journalists from China, Bulgaria and Canada suffered minor injuries in the incident. The incident took place near the border town of Kessab, on March 1, when eight shells were fired in total. The shells have landed some 150-400 meters from the journalists, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said. The Syrian army is blaming the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front for the attack, but there is no confirmation from an independent source.

MARCH 2016. SUDAN.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) stands by more than 30 Sudanese journalists who have launched a hunger strike to protest against the forced closure of their newspaper by the government. In the biggest organised strike of its kind in the country, the El Tayar reporters were greeted by hundreds of supporters at the newspaper’s offices in Khartoum on March 1. Wearing chains and linking hands, the journalists assembled in front of the building to announce their plans before retreating inside the building to begin their sit-in. “We want to draw attention to the difficulties faced by journalists and the restrictions on the freedom of press in the country in general,” said Khalid Fathi, the newspaper’s managing editor. On March 3, journalists of al-Tayyar newspaper have agreed to end their three-day hunger strike after a pledge from the government to refer the closure of the newspaper to the Constitutional Court.

FEBRUARY 2016. TURKEY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the conditional release 26 February of Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül (photo), of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, and calls on authorities to drop all charges against them. The two who spent 92 days in pre-trial detention stll face multiple life sentences if convicted of exposing state secrets for publishing reports alleging Turkey tried to smuggle weapons to Islamists in Syria. The PEC also calls for a full and swift investigation of the murder of Rohat Aktas: the editor and journalist for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat was killed 24 February in Cizre in southeast Turkey. Aktaş had travelled to the province to report on the curfew imposed in the area by Turkish authorities. Aktaş became trapped in a basement with dozens of others after he was shot in the arm while reporting on the efforts to help wounded civilians.

FEBRUARY 2016. Israel-held Palestinian journalist ends 94-day hunger strike. The Palestinian journalist held by Israel without trial, Mohammed al-Qiq, agreed Friday 26 February to end his 94-day hunger strike under a deal for his release in May. The Israeli army however, in a statement, was less categorical on his release. "He will continue to remain in custody until May 21, 2016. On that date, the situation will be examined to determine whether there is new information or security circumstances which require extending detention," it said. But for Qiq's family and supporters it was a victory.

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FEBRUARY 2016. YEMEN. ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED IN THE FIGHTING. Armed men in the central Yemeni city of Taiz fatally shot Ahmed al-Shaibani on Tuesday 16 February, according to his colleagues and employers. Al-Shaibani was working for the independent Yaman News website and state-run Yemen TV while reporting on fighting in Taiz. He is the fifth journalist killed in Yemen since the beginning of the year.

FEBRUARY 2016. MEXICO. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder of Anabel Flores Salazar (32), a reporter for El Sol de Orizaba who was abducted from her home near the city of Orizaba in Veracruz on Monday 8 February. PEC urges federal authorities to investigate the murder and bring all those responsible to justice. The journalist is the third killed in Mexico since the beginning of 2016.

FEBRUARY 2016. Big Media ‘must do more’ to protect journalists: at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on 5 February, 200 senior media managers, editors and journalists from around the world publicly examined their own record in standing up for the safety of journalists and marked their own card: ‘must do better’ (read the report by William Horsley, Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media UK, on PEC NEWS)

FEBRUARY 2016. ISRAEL. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls for the immediate release of Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Al-Qiq, who has been on hunger strike for more than two months and is “close to death” according to reports.Al-Qiq, a correspondent for Saudi Arabia’s Almajd TV network, was arrested on November 21 last year at his home in Ramallah, and is on hunger strike since November 25.

JANUARY 2016. TURKEY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins other organizations to protest again the indictment of a Turkish prosecutor demanding on 27/01/2016 during a court hearing in Istanbul “aggravated life imprisonment and imprisonment up to 30 years” for Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, two journalists working for the daily Cumhuriyet in Turkey. Can Dündar, editor in chief of Cumhuriyet and Erdem Gül, the newspaper’s bureau chief in Ankara have been accused of aiding a terrorist organisation and disclosure of classified documents, which showed that Turkey’s intelligence agency secretly armed rebel Islamist groups in Syria. The two journalists are arrested since 26 November 2015 and detained in Silivri detention camp. Together with a coalition of press freedom groups, the PEC calls on authorities in Turkey to immediately release Dündar and Gül and drop all charges against them. They only work for the public interest.

MEXICO. PEC condemns the murder of two journalists in Oaxaca state.Marcos Hernández Bautista, a 38-year-old correspondent for the news organization Noticias Voz e Imagen of Oaxaca, was shot in the head while getting into his car on the night of Jan 21, in San Andrés Huaxpaltepec in the Costa Region of Oaxaca state. Marcos had expressed fear because in some publications he had touched on political interests and those interests of chiefs in the region. Also in Oaxaca, Reynel Martínez Cerqueda, a host at community radio station "Manantial" of Santiago Laollaga, was killed on Jan. 22. Three journalists were found murdered in Oaxaca last year. Abel Manuel Bautista Raymundo, founder and director of Radio Espacio 96.1 FM, was killed on April 14, 2015. The body of Veracruz radio journalist Armando Saldaña Morales was found in the state on May 4. And radio journalist Filadelfo Sánchez Sarmiento was killed outside his office at La Favorita 103.3 FM on July 2.

YEMEN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands the immediate release of three Aljazeera Arabic news staff believed to have been kidnapped in the city of Taiz in southern Yemen. According to Al Jazeera, its Arabic correspondent, Hamdi Al-Bokari and his crew, journalist Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and driver Moneer Al-Sabai, were last seen on January 18. The team was covering events in the besieged city of Taiz, which is controlled by Yemeni forces and armed groups loyal to Yemeni president and is surrounded by rebels forces. The PEC joins calls on warrying parties in Yemen to do their utmost to protect media professional’s safety on the ground. The abduction comes just days after Yemeni journalist Almigdad Mojalli was killed on 17 January in an air raid by the Saudi-led coalition in the capital, Sana’a.

Al Jazeera channel’s Arabic correspondent Hamdi Al-Bokari and his crew, journalist Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and driver Moneer Al-Sabai, have been released, the Qatari cable news network said January 28. The PEC welcomes the safe return of the TV crew.

The Venezuelan journalist was a strong supporter of the governments of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. Ricardo Duran was killed outside his home Wednesday 20 January in Caracas. His work colleague, Daniel Aponte, told VTV, “They did not take anything from Ricardo Duran, not his wallet, nor money, nor his cell phone, nor his side arm, not even his car.” PEC calls for a thorough investigation.

AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the barbaric attack on Afghan TV channel TOLO in Kabul. Seven employees of popular Afghan TV channel TOLO were killed Wednesday 20 January when a Taliban car bomber rammed into their minibus in Kabul, just months after the militants declared the network a legitimate "military target". At least 25 other people were wounded in the first major attack on an Afghan media organisation since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001. The deadly assault spotlights the growing dangers faced by media workers in Afghanistan, as the security situation worsens amid a growing wave of militant attacks. The PEC is shocked and saddened by this outrage and demands that those responsible are arrested and brought to justice.

PEC is saddened by the death of the French-Moroccan photographer and video artist Leila Alaoui (33) killed by terrorists in Ouagadougou 15 January (photo). She was working for a documentary with Amnesty International.

IRAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of the US-Iranian journalist Jason Rezaian (photo) as part of a prisoner exchange after spending 543 days in detention.

The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief was one of four American-Iranian prisoners who were released in exchange for seven Iranians held in US custody on Saturday 16 January. Washington Post publisher, Frederick Ryan released a statement welcoming the announcement, saying: “We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison". His newspaper said that the journalist had been subjected to physical and psychological mistreatment during his detention. He was accused of spying for US government officials before he was eventually convicted of espionage in October and sentenced to jail.

PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns as an attack against press freedom a grenade attack on the Islamabad offices of Pakistani broadcaster ARY News 13 January. A video editor was wounded. Daesh Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack in pamphlets thrown outside the office, according to reports. Copies of the pamphlets warned the broadcaster about its coverage of the Pakistani military offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region. PEC condemns intimidation of journalists by terrorist groups anywhere in the world. Media are independent and not part of the military institution. More on:

Palestinians demonstrate in solidarity with the journalist Muhammad Al-Qeeq, 33, who has been on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, since Israeli forces arrested him from his home November 21 in Nablus, West Bank. He began a hunger strike on November 25, alleging torture by his captors and is currently in the hospital wing of Ramle prison, in central Israel.

As his health deteriorates, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein may be forced to weigh force feeding Al-Qeeq. He works as a reporter for the Saudi news channel “Almajd”. The Shin Bet claims that al-Qeeq is a member of Hamas. Al-Qeeq recently published a number of articles criticizing the Palestinian Authority, denouncing the lack of freedom of the press in the West Bank as well as the security forces who arrest political activists.

One year after the Charlie Hebdo massacre: terrorism is not an excuse to restrict fundamental freedoms

JANUARY 2016. PEC update: 135 journalists killed in 2015 in 33 countries - risks very high in 2016

The situation is very grim. The PEC fears that terrorists acts and the fight against terrorism all around the world may rise further in 2016 and lead to more journalists killed, wounded, kidnapped, detained, harassed, facing huge difficulties to do freely their work, and will further restrict freedom of the press. The PEC calls the United Nations to enforce stronger investigation and accountability mechanisms to fight against impunity (read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS, see our page CASUALTIES)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has updated its annual report covering 2015 published December 14. Until 31 December, 135 journalists were killed in 33 countries last year. The risks remain very high for 2016, warned the NGO.

Since the PEC started its count a decade ago in 2006, some 1184 media workers were killed with an average of more than 118 annually, or 2.2 par week. During the past four years, the total is higher and stands at 543 killed, an average of 136 annually or 2.6 par week.

DECEMBER 2015. SOMALIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is horrified and strongly condemns the attempted murder in Mogadishu of Omar Faruk Osman, Secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). Omar Faruk is a supporter of the PEC since the launch of our ONG in 2004 and we frequently joined our efforts during the sessions of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. According to reports, Osman was entering 29 December the union’s office in the Taleh area in Mogadishu when his car was sprayed with bullets by gunmen and he only owed his life to the quick thinking of his body guards, one of them was wounded in the attack as well two pedestrians (photo nusoj/ifj: Omar Faruk speaking at the HRC session in Geneva)(read the PEC press release English and Arabic on PEC NEWS)

ONE MORE SYRIAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN TURKEY. The PEC condemns the murder of Syrian journalist and filmmaker Naji Jerf gunned down in Gaziantep, in Turkey near the Syrian border. Editor-in-chief of the monthy Hentah and the maker of documentary films on the group Islamic State, he was killed 27 December by unknown assaillants in front of a building that houses Syrian opposion news outlets in Gaziantep. The PEC calls on Turkish authorities to sep up measures to protect all Syrian journalists on Turkish soil.

Naji Jerf, 38, was shot with a silenced pistol in downtown Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, Turkish media reported. Mr Jerf was the film director for Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), a group of journalists who risk their lives daily to report on IS abuses. It is the second murder of a member of the group in December, after Ahmad Mohammed al-Mousa was killed in Idlib, in Syria. Mr Jerf directed two recent documentaries about the group - one about the killing of Syrian activists in Aleppo, the other about the work of RBSS. As well as his work with RBSS, Mr Jerf was editor-in-chief of Hentah, a Syrian magazine that reports on the "daily lives of Syrian citizens", according to the publication's website.

Some 88 journalists were killed in Syria alone during the past five years. Pakistan follows Syria with 55 killed, then Irak with 46 journalists killed and Mexico the same 46.Somalia ranks 5th with 42 killed, then Brazil 36 and the Philippines 34.

Honduras comes next (26), then India (25) and Libya (20).

These ten countries account for two thirds of the total death toll since 2011 (415 of 643) (updated 31 December)

DECEMBER 2015. SYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) mourns Al Jazeera cameraman Zakaria Ibrahim who died Monday 7 December six days after he was injured by shrapnel while covering a Syrian army bombardment in the province of Homs. Al Jazeera paid a heavy tribute to the war in Syria. A number of Al Jazeera journalists were killed in the line of duty: last September, Ahmad Abdel Karim Masalameh, an Al Jazeera reporter in Deraam, died while covering the fighting there. In December 2014, Al Jazeera's Mahran al-Dairi was killed while reporting on clashes between regime troops and rebels in Deraa. Mohammad Jalil al-Qasem was killed in Sepember 2014 in the suburbs of Idlib. On December 4, 2013, cameraman Yasser al-Jumaili was shot multiple times as he tried to leave Syria by road after finishing an assignment. In January 2013, Mohammad al-Hourani, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Deraa, was killed by a sniper in the suburb of Busra al-Harir.

NOVEMBER 2015. Speech delivered by PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen at a reception by the Association of correspondents to the United Nations in Geneva (26/11): "The war in Syria has cost the lives of many colleagues. It has been allowed to deteriorate and we harvest bitter fruits in Europe (...) // "On a laissé pourrir la guerre en Syrie qui a coûté la vie à beaucoup de collègues. On en récolte aujourd'hui les fruits amers en Europe (...) (read the full speech on PEC NEWS)

NOVEMBER 2015. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warned that as the world marks the United Nations International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on 2 November at least 110 journalists were killed since the beginning of the year. Much more needs to be done.

Killings of journalists go unsolved and unpunished which has created a culture of impunity where critical voices are silenced and citizens are denied accurate information about the societies in which they live. Regrettably, the situation is not improving, on the contrary, especially in the Middle East.

(read the PEC statement English and Arabic on PEC NEWS)

- OCTOBER 2015: BURUNDI - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder of a TV cameraman and his family in Bujumbura. At least seven people were killed in shootings and a grenade attack on Tuesday 13 October in Burundi's capital, police and residents said, in a further spate of violence following the election of President Pierre Nkurunziza to a third term. Residents of the Ngagara neighbourhood - a stronghold for opposition supporters - said two police officers and a television cameraman and his family were among the dead. Residents identified the cameraman as Christophe Nkezabahizi who worked with state-run RTNB radio and television station, who they said was shot dead along with his wife and two children.

ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED IN SYRIA -Anadolu Agency photojournalist Saleh Mahmoud Laila (photo) was killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Syria on Thursday.The attack in the opposition-held town of Hraytan, north of Aleppo, was carried out by Daesh, local civil defense sources said.At least 20 people were killed, and dozens injured, when a bomb-laden vehicle exploded at a marketplace, they added.

Laila, 27, had survived an airstrike by regime forces last July in Aleppo's al-Zahraa neighborhood, suffering multiple burns.He was sent to Turkey for treatment and later returned to Aleppo to cover the conflict.

Laila's photos documenting the Syrian civil war have been published by major media outlets.

- EGYPT. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed following a presidential pardon. The journalists were facing a retrial on the charge of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood but has been pardoned among 100 prisoners by Egyptian president El Sisi - The PEC has repeatedly called for a presidential pardon for the release of the two journalists and thanks Egyptian president, even it is late - international solidarity paid (23/09)

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. 30th session. TWO STATEMENTS DELIVERED BY THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN:: interactive dialogue with of the Commission of inquiry on Syria: "the dimension of the conflict has changed, it is time to act" - item 4 situations that require the Council's attention: "more than 100 journalists killed from the outset of the year"(21/09) (read the PEC statements on PEC NEWS)

COURAGE IS CONTAGIOUS

After Berlin (in May), Dresden (in June) and before Paris, the travelling exhibit "Anything to Say?" has stopped in Geneva during the Human Rights Council's 30th session. Bronze statues of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, standing on chairs and made by the artist Davide Dormino (left on the chair), were exposed on the Place des Nations from 14 to 18 September (photo pec)

PEC Press release English and French on PEC NEWS

"It is a monument to the courage of three people who said no to the establishment of a comprehensive monitoring and lies and have chosen to tell the truth," said the Italian artist Davide Dormino.

Assange, Manning and Snowden, "traitors" or heroes of our time? The public can respond by mounting a fourth chair intentionally left empty. "Art has the power to make things happen. The chair has a double meaning. It may be comfortable, but it can also be a pedestal to grow, to have a better perspective, to learn. All three of them mounted on a chair with courage at their own risk and peril ", said Davide Dormino.

- AZERBAIJAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply outraged by sentencing of journalist Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in prison, handed down by an Azerbaijani court on 1 september. The harsh sentence is clearly politically motivated, given the lack of due process in the case and the absence of credible evidence presented by the prosecution.

- AUGUST 2015. EGYPT. Retrial and sentencing of Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed represent a setback for freedom of expression in Egypt. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) looks forward to the appeals process and reiterates its call for the release of the journalists. PEC reminds Egypt the adoption by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly of many resolutions on the safety of journalists recommending to take active steps to promote a safe environment for journalists. Egyptian President Sisi must pardon Al Jazeera journalists to close the case.

- The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is shocked: gunman murders two reporters in Virginia (United States) in an attack on Live TV - WDBJ says reporter Alison PArker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were both killed in the attack

A gunman killed the young reporter and photographer (photo) during a live television broadcast on Wednesday, according to officials and colleagues at the station. WDBJ7 correspondent Alison Parker is seen conducting an interview at around 6:45 a.m. at a shopping center in Moneta, Virginia. In chilling footage that has been posted online, several shots break out and screams are heard. The camera drops to the floor and the screams continue — before the broadcast cuts away to a confused and concerned-looking anchor (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

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- The Press Emblem Campaign worried by two more killings in Africa: one more journalist killed in Mozambique, one in Mozambique (read on PEC NEWS)

- MEXICO. SIGN THE PETITION. Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa was found tortured and murdered August 2. Rubenis the 14th journalist killed in the southern state of Veracruz where governor Javier Duarte has made open threats against reporters. Almost none of these crimes have been solved. But this case has sent thousands into the streets and set off an explosion in the national and global media. Now Gael García Bernal, Salman Rushdie, Christiane Amanpour and hundreds of journalists, writers and artists have signed an open letter demanding justice for journalists in Mexico murdered for doing their jobs. The letter is already making waves with the government, but if we add over a million more names, and get it published on the front page of Mexican media, we can drive it home and show that people from every country in the world stand with the freedom of expression fight in Mexico. The PEC added its voice - sign the petition here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/ruben_global_l/?kEBwteb

- The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of Syrian human rights activist and journalist Mazen Darwish after spending more than three years in prison in Syria. Mazen Darwish received the PEC award in absentia in Geneva in June 2012.

Darwish is the director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), he was arrested in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in February 2012 with two colleagues. His colleagues were released last month as part of an amnesty.Darwish is still facing trial and is due to attend a court hearing later this month. He was jailed for reporting on the government's crackdown on protesters in the early days of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.The PEC heartily congratulates his wife Yara Badr and his family members and calls on the Syrian regime to drop all remaining charges against Mazen Darwish.

Darwish has been awarded a number of international prizes: last April he won the UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Prize in recognition of the work that he has carried out in Syria “for more than 10 years at great personal sacrifice, enduring a travel ban, harassment as well as repeated detention and torture”. The PEC hopes that what appeared as a goodwill gesture by president al-Assad will be followed by other signs of openness to end an outrageous war and to find the way to peace (August 11)

Jose Manuel Lopez, Angel Sastre, and Antonio Pampliega, are missing in Syria since July 13

IRAQ/SYRIA. THE PEC IS APPALLED BY THE CONTINUED DRAMATIC SITUATION FOR MEDIA: FOUR FOREIGN JOURNALISTS MISSING -TWO MORE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN MOSUL BY THE GROUP ISLAMIC STATE - TWO MEDIA ACTIVISTS working for Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), one of the few remaining independent news sources in the province, killed according to a video of ISIS (see Casualties, read on PEC news)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has registered a 7 percent increase in the number of journalists killed from January to June in 24 countries, the number has gone up to 71 journalists killed. This increase is related to the intense fighting in Middle East.

- JUNE 2015. GAZA: Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) at the HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 29th session - on the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Gaza: the PEC urges both sides to carry out swift, credible and independent investigations(full statement on PEC NEWS)

The Press Emblem Campaign expresses at the Human Rights Council its disappointement that on 12 June, an Israeli military tribunal has closed the case involving the killing by Israeli shelling of four children in Gaza in July 2014 without any further legal proceedings – criminal or disciplinary – to be taken against those involved in the incident. Journalists were direct witnesses of the attack on a beach in Gaza City on 16 July 2014. Four young Palestinian boys were killed (Credit Tyler Hicks, The New York Times).

- YEMEN. Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) at the HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 29th session: The PEC is very concerned that the space for free journalism is decreasing because of tensions in the whole region (read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS, english and arabic)

- SYRIA. Statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) at the HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 29th session: Fewer journalists are covering the war - The Commission of Inquiry reports are more necessary than ever to prevent victims are forgotten. PEC hopes that impunity will not prevail and that a tribunal will in the near future judge all those responsible for crimes and atrocities committed(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

"The continuing war represents a profound failure of diplomacy (...) While upholding the need for a political solution, some States have deepened their military involvment, accentuating the internationalisation of the conflict", said in his statement, the chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (here with Carla del Ponte, member of the COI). "The absence of decisive action by the community of States, as a whole, has nourished a now deeply entrenched culture of impunity", stressed the chair.

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 29th session: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the first report of the new UN Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye, calls for an independent expert on freedom of the press(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- AZERBAIJAN: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of journalist Emin Huseynov who had been sheltering for 10 months at the Swiss Embassy in Baku, deplores that seven journalists remain behind the bars(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Switzerland has flown out of Azerbaijan the opposition journalist Emin Huseynov (photo) who had been sheltering for 10 months at its embassy in Baku, a day after the inaugural European Games opened in the tightly-controlled country. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the arrival in Switzerland of the opposition journalist and congratulates the swiss diplomats for their successful efforts, but deplores that seven other journalists remain behind the bars on the basis of fabricated charges.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic (photo) was the guest speaker at the PEC event June 4 in Geneva attended by more than 40 diplomats, journalists, NGOs representatives. "The media freedom situation in Ukraine is very complex. The main media freedom issue in this conflict is journalists'safety; journalists are being threatened, intimidated and attacked just for doing their job", stressed Ms Mijatovic.

"False and misleading information must be countered and fought with truthful and factual information, that must be the basis encountering and addressing propaganda", she added. Ms Mijatovic called to fight propaganda and incitment to hostility or violence.

- UNITED NATIONS. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists in conflict situations by the UN Security Council(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS, text of the resolution on DOCUMENTS)

- YEMEN: PEC calls for an enquiry on the killing of two more journalists - kidnapped by Houthis and bombed by the coalition(read on OTHER NEWS)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demanded that the crime be investigated rigorously and quickly. Violence against professional journalists is growing all over Brazil. The investigative reporter Evany Jose Metzker (photo) was found decapitated in the town of Padre Paraiso, in Minas Gerais state, authorities said May 19. Metzker, 67, wrote an investigative reporting blog called Coruja do Vale, which published news of crime and corruption, along with critical articles about politicians in the Valle del Jequitinhonha region, a poor rural area of northeast Minas Gerais.

- SYRIA: PEC deeply concerned by the enforced disappearance of Mazen Darwish, Hani Al-Zaitani andHussain Ghrer, respectively President and members of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), who are arbitrarily detained since February 2012, and have been unaccounted for since May 3, 2015 - Mazen Darwish was awarded the PEC Prize in June 2012 and on May 3, 2015 the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize (read on OTHER NEWS)

- PEC welcomes the JOINT DECLARATION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RESPONSES TO CONFLICT SITUATIONS adopted by the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (read on OTHER NEWS)

Since the beginning of the year, in 4 months, 53 journalists were killed in 20 countries against 41 during the same period last year, an increase of 29% - more than 3 journalists killed a week, a very worrying trend, according to the PEC figures.

- LIBYA: PEC is deeply shocked by the discovery of the bodies of four libyan journalists and one egyptian photographer - Libya has become the most dangerous country this year(read on PEC NEWS)

- YEMEN: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns an air strike targeting the TV station Yemen Today in Sana'a which killed one journalist and three staff members(read reports on OTHER NEWS)

The PEC stressed that whatever the motivations are journalists must be spared from being targeted because of political rivalries.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered "a quick and transparent" investigation into the murders of a pro-Russian journalist Oles Buzina (photo) and an ex-lawmaker loyal to ousted President Viktor Yanukovich. "Their nature and political import are clear - this is a deliberate act, which plays into the hands of our enemies," his press service quoted him as saying in an online statement.

- The press Emblem Campaign (PEC) denounces the cyberattack on TV5 Monde that paralyzed its network, as a new and very worrying form of attacks by terrorists groups against the freedom of the press- still many questions(read reports on OTHER NEWS)

It is a great day for the PEC when one of its executive committee members and a very dedicated member becomes president of IMPRESSUM which assembles 6000 Swiss journalists. PEC president Hedayat Abdel Nabi noted that being elected president of IMPRESSUM is well deserved for Christian Campiche (photo). PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen stressed that IMPRESSUM has supported the PEC since the Geneva based NGO was created in 2004. The PEC wishes him a great tenure as president.

#PressUncuffed is a campaign started by University of Maryland journalism students to raise money to free imprisoned journalists by selling bracelets bearing their names - JOIN THE CAMPAIGN (read the press release on OTHER NEWS)

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 28th session: statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign on item 8: The PEC is deeply concerned that some States have done nothing to implement the resolution on safety of journalists (A/HRC/27/L7) adopted last September(read the statement on PEC NEWS)

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 28th session: statement delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign on item 7: Last year was the worst and the deadliest year in the history of Palestine media(read the statement on PEC NEWS)

On the occasion of the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urged Member States to act to protect media workers. The PEC has delivered four oral statements: on the situation of journalists in Syria and in Palestine, on "Charlie Hebdo" and other terrorists attacks and on other situations that requires the Council's attention (read the PEC statements on PEC NEWS)

- YEMEN: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing of top Yemeni Journalist Abdul Kareem Al-Khaiwani in Sanaa(read the story on OTHER NEWS)

One of Yemen's top journalists and activists close to the country's dominant Houthi militia, Abdul Kareem al-Khaiwani, has been killed, the group's official television channel al-Maseerah said. The son al-Khewani, who is also a respected writer, said a pair of armed men riding on a motorbike opened fire and gunned down his father as he came out of his home on Wednesday morning.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Sunni Muslim al Qaeda militants have claimed several previous attacks on the Shi'ite Houthis, whom it regards as heretics. Khaiwani's editorials were once the scourge of Yemen's veteran autocrat, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 28th session - PEC statement delivered on situations that require the Council's attention - PEC requires the Human Rights Council to send a very strong message to all criminals that there would be no impunity for perpetrators of crimes against the freedom of expression(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA'S CONFLICT enters its fifth year - PEC statement at the Human Rights Council on the report of the International commission of inquiry on Syria: "not to publish names at this juncture of the investigation would be to reinforce the impunity"(read on PEC NEWS)

- PALESTINE:MADA report: 2014 the worst, the deadliest, and the hardest year in the history of Palestinian Media(for the MADA report, go to OTHER NEWS)

- EGYPT - an unprecedented legal limbo: Mohamed Fahmy retrial delayed until March 19 after witnesses fail to show (read on OTHER NEWS)

- COLOMBIA: second journalist murdered in less than three weeks - segundo asesinato de periodista colombiano en 2015(read on OTHER NEWS)

- UKRAINE: ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED on the eve of the session of the Human Rights Council - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply saddened by the death of Sergii Nikolaiev,senior photographer of Segodnya daily Ukrainian newspaper.Since the start of the year, in two months, 29 journalists have been killed while only doing their job (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Sergii Nikolaiev (photo) died of wounds he received on Feb. 28 in eastern Ukraine, according to news reports. The tragedy occurred in the village of Pisky located just 1.5 kilometers from Donetsk airport, which is now controlled by separatists. Several of his colleagues on the scene reported that Nikolaiev was wounded by explosion of the mine, while Segodnya newspaper reported that he was wounded by shells. Nikolaiev, 43, has worked in numerous conflict zones, including wars in Georgia, Libya, Syria, and Somalia. He has become the tenth journalist killed since the beginning of 2014 in Ukraine, the seventh directly caused by the war (five Russians, one Italian, one Ukrainian).

- UNITED STATES: UN rights expert hails US move to keep Internet open(read on OTHER NEWS)

- PAKISTAN: slow progress in the fight against impunity in Balochistan(see our page NO IMPUNITY) - An official autopsy report on the death of Reuters journalist Maria Golovnina has concluded that she died of asphyxiation, the cause of which "at this stage cannot be established." Golovnina, 34, the Reuters bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was declared dead in an Islamabad hospital on February 23 after she collapsed in the Reuters news bureau. Pakistan authorities are conducting a further toxicology report, which is expected to take about a month. PEC will follow-up and expects the authorities to conduct a full and transparent investigation

- UKRAINE - RUSSIA: one year after the Euromaidan revolution in Kiev, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) concerned: the space for free journalism is steadily decreasing - PEC condemns all obstacles to reporting on the conflict and calls on all parties to respect the freedom of information for all journalists

- SYRIA: Swedish Journalist Released From Captivity in Syria - Swedish tabloid Expressen says Swedish journalist Joakim Medin has been released from a weeklong captivity in Syria. Medin, 30, said in an interview with the paper Sunday 22 February that he and his interpreter were captured by Syrian government forces while working in the Kurdish parts of the country. Medin, who works as a freelancer for Swedish media, was released late Saturday after spending a week in an isolation cell. Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ulla Jacobson confirmed that Medin has been released.

- A Call for Global Safety Principles and Practices: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) endorses safety principles and practices for international news organizations and the freelancers who work with them in a conflict zone or any dangerous environment (read the principles on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA: Free Mazen Darwish, Hani Al-Zitani and Hussein Gharir held three years - PEC supports the call (read on OTHER NEWS)

- EGYPT:the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes a court decision in Egypt that has ordered the release on bail of two Al Jazeera journalists(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Mohamed Fahmy, here with his fiancee, Marwa Omara, in Cairo on Saturday, tells the Star that his ordeal with the Egyptian justice system is far from over. The 40-year-old Canadian journalist was let out on bail Friday 13 February after spending 411 days behind bars along with his Al Jazeera colleagues, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed. Mohamed Fahmi is still very cautious

- AZERBAIJAN: The Swiss embassy in Baku has been secretly sheltering Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist Emin Huseynov for the past six months, a Swiss national television report has revealed on Wednesday 11 February - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urges Azerbaijan to grant Huseynov safe passage out of the country(read on PEC NEWS)

Since August 2014, the human rights defender and journalist Emin Huseynov of Azerbaijan has been forced into hiding at the Swiss embassy in Baku. As chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), a local NGO, Huseynov is one of many victims of an intense government crackdown on free speech and civil society that has taken place in Azerbaijan over the past year

- SYRIA: Japan confiscates journalist's passport to stop him going to Syria - What is the most important, the right to information of the public or the journalists' safety?The passport seizure has brought sharp criticism from journalists and free-speech advocates. The PEC questions the legitimacy of the decision (read on PEC NEWS)

- LIBYA: JOURNALISTS UNDER ATTACK - report released by Human Rights Watch (read on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA: REMEMBER AMERICAN JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE MISSING SINCE AUGUST 2012 - Parents of missing journalist push for new hostage policy - see the video: http://goo.gl/wbCeTS

- BURUNDI: PEC is concerned about the arrest and detention of Burundian journalist Bob Rugurika (read the OHCHR statement on Other News)

- EGYPT: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes Peter Greste's release, a move in the right direction, and demands the release of his colleagues Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy(PEC press release on PEC NEWS,more info on OTHER NEWS)

Australian journalist Peter Greste (here on his arrival in Cyprus) has been deported and is free after 400 days in detention in Egypt. Greste was arrested in December 2013 with his colleagues Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (Canada) and Baher Mohamed (Egypt). Accused of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013, the three men said they were simply reporting the news.

- SYRIA: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is horrified at the beheading announced by ISIS of Japanese journalist Kenji GOTO, a heinous crime strongly condemned by the PEC - 23 journalists killed in one month, an unprecedented record for January (read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS)

"Kenji Goto reported the plight of people in conflict areas like Iraq, Somalia and Syria. It was his passion to highlight the effects on ordinary people, especially through the eyes of children, and to inform the rest of us of the tragedies of war", his wife Rinko - Sunday, 01 February 2015.

- SOUTH SUDAN: FIVE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN AN AMBUSH IN BAHR AL GHAZAL STATE - PEC condemns the attack and urges the authorities to identify the perpetrators - 21 journalists killed since the start of the year, an unprecedented record for January(see casualties)

- SYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply concerned by a video released by the Islamic State militant group, showing surviving Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto, in handcuffs and dressed in orange, holding a photo of what appears to be beheaded compatriot Haruna Yukawa. PEC firmly condemns an outrageous act of banditry and calls for the immediate release of the Japanese hostage (read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS)

Kenji Goto (photo), 47, is an experienced freelance journalist covering the conflict in Iraq and Syria. Goto was kidnapped in Syria in October 2014 and had been a journalist for years, contributing to NHK and other Japanese news organizations.

- MEXICO: PEC worried - Mexican journalist remains missing after three weeks - no investigation from authorities in Veracruz - sadly the body of the reporter Moises Sanchez Cerezo, 49, was found January 24 hidden in a black bag in the small town of Manlio Fabio Altamirano (updated - read on OTHER NEWS)

Exclusive Interview with Laurence Deonna, journalist, writer, "To be published, the reporter and the photographer must move closer to the drama at the risk of their lives" - Interview by Luisa Ballin for the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) (read the interview translated in English on PEC NEWS)

- Je suis Charlie: over one million people for the defense of freedom of expression and against terrorism Sunday in Paris, four million people throughout France

Some 1.5 million people, including over 50 world leaders, thronged central Paris Sunday afternoon in a massive and historic show of support against terrorism(read on OTHER NEWS a press release of the French syndicates of journalists)

- Je suis Charlie: commemoration at the United Nations in Geneva for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack - Participants and PEC members observed one minute of silence Friday 9 January

Over one hundred journalists and UN spokepersons attended the commemoration at the United Nations in Geneva to pay homage to the victims of the attack in Paris, with the DG of the UN in Geneva Michael Moller, the High Commissionner, the Permanent Representative of France Nicolas Niemtchinow, the president of the UN Association of Journalists in Geneva and a Representative of Cartooning for Peace

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said: "We do not need retaliation. Neither Islam nor multiculturalism in Europe is to blame for the bloody attack two mornings ago, as some right-wing political leaders have already begun to say". He added: "The right to the freedom of expression has always been considered as that human right which best answers to the wickedness brought on by tyranny and racism (...) That right, the freedom of expression, must therefore be argued for vigorously, most especially by this organization: by us".

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) took part in the special event to pay homage to the victims of the attack in Paris and to reaffirm the importance of freedom of the press. Here on the photo Tamer Aboalenin, member of the PEC board, during the minute of silence with many journalists accredited at the United Nations in Geneva (more on PEC NEWS)

- JANUARY 2015.PEC annual report – updated : 138 journalists killed in 32 countries in 2014 - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has updated its annual report 2014, published December 15 (128 journalists killed at that time). At the end of the year, at least 138 journalists have been killed in 32 countries. 2014 was the deadliest year after 2012 over ten years(read more on PEC NEWS, English and Arabic, go to CASUALTIES for the full list of victims)

- PAKISTAN: 2014 AMONG THE WORST FOR JOURNALISTS IN A DECADE(read on OTHER NEWS)

- EGYPT: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins the calls to release the Al Jazeera staff held for one year in Egypt. They are not criminals, only journalists. December 29 marks one year since Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste were arrested in Cairo under false charges of aiding the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false news. In June, Greste, an Australian, and Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian, received seven-year jail terms, while Mohamed, an Egyptian, was sentenced to 10 years. After the Court orders the retrial of the journalists January 1rst, the PEC still hopes that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will issue a presidential pardon to end this ordeal that tarnishes the image of Egypt.

- SYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) appalled - FOUR JOURNALISTS KILLED IN TWO DAYS - 13 in Syria since the beginning of this year(read on OTHER NEWS)

- YEMEN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) shocked - freelance american photojournalist Luke Somers has been killed during a rescue attempt in Yemen - Luke Somers was abducted in September 2013 in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, by al-Qaeda(more on OTHER NEWS)

Luke Somers appears in a propaganda video released by al-Malahem Media. The authorities in Sanaa had received information that the hostage was due to be killed by al-Qaeda on Saturday morning 6 December, prompting the rescue attempt. Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, later confirmed his death.

- SOMALIA. TWO MORE JOURNALISTS KILLED. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is saddened to learn the murder of two journalists, while three others were wounded in a suicide car bombing attack in the town of Baidoa(read on OTHER NEWS)

- GAZA: threats of the so-called “ISIS-Gaza” against journalists and artists - a very worrying phenomenon(read on OTHER NEWS)

- NOVEMBER 2014. UKRAINE. PEC condemns the killing of Oleksandr Kuchynsky and his wife in Donetsk Oblast. He is the ninth journalist killed in Ukraine this year, the 120th worldwide. Kuchynsky, 57, was a chief editor of Criminal Express, a newspaper in Donetsk covering the crime news(see casualties)

- UNITED NATIONS. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes a new resolution adopted by consensus at the third committee in New York which aims at enhancing the safety of journalists, but more needs to be done – five years after the Ampatuan Massacre, no one has been convicted. The PEC calls on the UN to create a new international mechanism to follow-up the enquiries and bring those responsible to justice // حملة الشارة الدولية ترحب پقرار اللجنة الثالثة لحماية و سلامة الصحفيين (read the PEC statement English and Arabic on PEC NEWS)

- PEC took part in a meeting in Strasbourg organized by UNESCO: Legal experts discussed frameworks to tackle impunity - and attended the 3rd UN Inter-Agency Meeting on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity(read on PEC NEWS)

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. REVIEW OF EGYPT (UPR). IPI and PEC sent a letter to Ambassadors to call attention to the dare situation journalists are facing in Egypt(read the letter on PEC NEWS)

- INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY. Symposium on safety of journalists - the reality of violations and the efforts for protection - Doha (Qatar) - read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS

The Press Emblem Campaign calls upon all governments to take steps to prevent attacks on journalists and to hold accountable those who commit them (speaking at the Doha Symposium, right, the PEC Representative Gianfranco Fattorini)

- INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY for CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS. ONE YEAR AFTER THE MURDER OF TWO FRENCH JOURNALISTS OF RFI IN MALI - PEC welcomes a new campaign launched by RSF: www.fightimpunity.org. ACT NOW (read more news and statements on our pages OTHER NEWS and NO IMPUNITY)

- IRAQ - Islamic State publicly executes Iraqi journalist in northern Iraq - Islamic State fighters have publicly executed an Iraqi journalist Raad Mohamed Al-Azaoui, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday Oct 11. It follows the executions of two Western journalists. Raad Mohamed Al-Azaoui, a cameraman for Sama Salah Aldeen TV, was abducted by Islamic State fighters on September 7 when he was working in Samara, in the northern province of Saladin. The group later issued threats to behead Al-Azaoui after he refused to work for the Islamic State. This new execution highlights the mounting dangers journalists face while working in the region. The terrorist organization eliminate all those who refuse to swear allegiance to ISIS, warned the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) (see casualties)

- ALERT. EBOLA IN WEST AFRICA. NEW RISKS FOR JOURNALISTS. American Journalist With Ebola, NBC Team Brought Back to U.S.(read media reports and latest news of the NBC cameraman on OTHER NEWS)

Ashoka Mukpo (photo), a freelance journalist from Providence, Rhode Island, was working as a cameraman for NBC News when he fell ill last Wednesday. The American photojournalist who became infected with Ebola left disease-ravaged Liberia on Sunday night. Mukpo was being flown back to the U.S. to the Biocontainment Unit at the Nebraska Medical Center Monday October 6(media reports)

- SEPTEMBER 2014. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL:The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) salutes the adoption of a new resolution on the safety of journalists by the Human Rights Council, marking progress by UN Member States(read the PEC statement English and Arabic on PEC NEWS)

- GAZA. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. The Press Emblem Campaign calls on the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories to investigate on the violation of the fundamental freedoms and rights of journalists, and on the members of the Independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate on the aforementioned crimes against media outlet and media workers and identify the responsible (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- THREE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN GUINEA IN COLD BLOOD. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is alarmed by reports that eight members of a team trying to raise awareness about Ebola, among them three local journalists, have been killed by villagers using machetes and clubs in Guinea. This brings the total of casualties among media workers this year to more than 100(see casualties)

- SYRIA. PEC SHOCKED BY ONE MORE VIDEO. The Islamic State militant group released a video September 18 that shows John Cantlie, a British freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply concerned for the safety of John Cantlie and urges Islamic State militants to free John Cantlie and all other remaining hostages. In the past month, the ISIS has published three other videos showing the beheading of civilians, including U.S. freelance journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

The so-called Islamic State has released a haunting video that shows John Cantlie (photo) pledging to expose the "truth behind the Islamic State". The PEC strongly condemns such statements under duress ot the former british reporter for The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sunday Telegraph.

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) delivered two statements on the report of the commission of inquiry on Syria and on Human rights situations that require the Council's attention(read the statements on PEC NEWS)

- EGYPT. Keep up the pressure on Egypt to free the Al Jazeera’s imprisoned journalists Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, sentenced to seven years last June and detained since 251 days. Invited by the Swiss Press Club, Mostefa Souag, Al Jazeera Media Network’s director general, was in Geneva Friday 5 September. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joigned the campaign to free all the journalists in Egypt (read the PEC statement at the Swiss Press Club on PEC NEWS).

Mostefa Souag (left) was invited by the director of the Swiss Press Club in Geneva Guy Mettan (right). The Al Jazeera Media Network's director general said that the verdict was political. Al Jazeera reporters have gotten attention, but Egyptian journalists have far more difficulties. According to Souag, 60 journalists are detained in Egypt.

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. 27th session. TWO WRITTEN STATEMENTS submitted by the Press Emblem Campaign: 90 journalists killed so far in 2014: a new step is required by the UN in order to combat impunity // GAZA: 15 journalists and media workers killed during operation “Protective Edge”: the responsible have to be held accountable(read the PEC statements on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. Free Mazen Darwish and his colleagues (read on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns with force the slaughtering of American journalist Steven Sotloff by ISIS, urges the Human Rights Council to act(PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

A disguised militant from the Islamic State, or ISIS, said the execution of an American journalist purportedly shown in a new video was the result of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq. The White House said Wednesday Sept 3 the video showing the killing of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff is authentic. Mr. Sotloff, 31 years old, was abducted near the Turkish border in Syria in August 2013. Few knew about his capture until the release on Aug. 19 of another video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

- UKRAINE. ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED IN EASTERN UKRAINE. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls for a thorough and independent investigation on the death of Russian journalist Andrey Stenin(PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Russian journalist Andrey Stenin (photo) has been confirmed dead Sept 3. He was in a vehicle, traveling in a convoy containing escaping civilians when it came under heavy fire. Stenin, 33, a photojournalist contributing to several news agencies including Rossiya Segodnya (RIA Novosti) and ITAR-TASS, had been covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine before all contact with him was lost on August 5.

- IRAQ. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. SPECIAL SESSION ON THE SITUATION IN IRAQ - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expresses its deepest concern about the security conditions and the protection of journalists working in Iraq - The PEC calls upon the Human Rights Council to firmly condemn and to investigate all crimes committed against journalists by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant(PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- UNITED NATIONS.PEC welcomes a statement fromfour international freedom of expression rapporteurs urging stronger protection of journalists covering conflicts(read the UN statement on OTHER NEWS)

- AUGUST 2014. PAKISTAN. A black-week in Pakistan’s media history - two journalists and three media workers killed(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, held captive by militants in Syria since October 2012(read on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA. PEC HORRIFIED BY THE VIDEO POSTED BY ISIS SHOWING THE BARBARIC MURDER OF AMERICAN JOURNALIST JAMES FOLEY (PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Foley, 40 (photo), vanished in Syria in November 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war for GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since. At the end of the video posted August 19 by the Islamic State, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013 and freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.

- MALDIVES. PEC is concerned about the disappearance of Ahmad Rilwan Abdullah, a journalist with Minivan News - 15 journalists have reported receiving death threatsinthe Maldives(see OTHER NEWS)

- GAZA. PEC deeply saddened to hear of the death oftwo journalists of Associated Press and Agence France-Presse killed while photographing attempts to dismantle an unexploded Israeli bomb - the media death toll reaches 15 following the israeli operation Protective Edge (more on OTHER NEWS)

This photo taken in August, 2014 shows italian Associated Press video journalist Simone Camilli on a balcony overlooking smoke from Israeli Strikes in Gaza City. Camilli, 35, was killed in an ordnance explosion in the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, together with Palestinian Ali Shehda Abu Afash from Agence France-Presse and three members of the Gaza police. AP photographer Hatem Moussa was also injured. According to AP, Simone Camilli was a passionate, talented newsman who covered popes in the serene splendor of the Vatican and the horrific violence on battlefields from the former Soviet republic of Georgia to the Middle East.

- ISRAEL-GAZA: ONE MONTH AFTER THE START OF THE OPERATION PROTECTIVE EDGE, PALESTINIAN MEDIA DEATH TOLL REACHES 13 in GAZA - PEC URGES ISRAEL TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY MEASURES TO AVOID NEW VICTIMS AMONG JOURNALISTS (see casualties, other news)

- JULY 2014. GAZA. EIGHT PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS KILLED IN THREE WEEKS BY ISRAELI ATTACKS, OTHER INJURED, MEDIA BUILDINGS SHELLED(read on OTHER NEWS)

Palestinian journalists are under fire. Israeli war jets are reported to have bombed the offices of the Al-Aqsa TV station, in the Alnaser neighbourhood of Gaza (photo), and the Al-Aqsa radio station, in the El-Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza Tuesday 29 July. The attack on the Al-Aqsa offices means that four media outlets have until now been targeted. The PEC strongly condemns these attacks. The fact that the Hamas broadcast stations serve as propaganda organs does not justify making them a military target.

- GAZA. PEC welcomes the special session of the Human Rights Council(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

While Mr Shihab was going at about 10:00 pm Tuesday 9 July to Omar Al-Mukhtatr's street in Gaza city to transfer a cameraman to the headquarters of the company Media 24, the car, which had a press sign TV in red (photo), was shelled by a rocket by an Israeli airplane.

- JUNE 2014. EGYPT. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC)calls on Egyptian President al-Sissi to release sentenced journalists including Peter Greste(PEC press release and more info on PEC NEWS)

- THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE KILLING OF TWO RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS NEAR LUGANSK IN UKRAINE(read more on PEC NEWS)

Two journalists for Russian TV channel Rossiya have died from wounds sustained during a Ukrainian military shelling attack near Lugansk, eastern Ukraine. Reporter Igor Kornelyuk (photo) passed away on the operating table, a doctor at the hospital confirmed to RT. The second alleged victim is sound engineer Anton Voloshin. According to RT's information, he died immediately at the scene.The Rossiya channel crew consisted of three people with only one of them, Viktor Denisov, the cameraman, surviving the Ukrainian military shelling.

- SYRIA - HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL -Report of the Independent international commission of inquiry - The PEC is particularly concerned by the radicalization of the armed groups which may be conducive to a regional destabilization and calls for an urgent reinforcement of the protection of journalists and media workers(full PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. Panel discussion on the Safety of Journalists. "Impunity is the major challenge governments, and the international community as a whole, have to face when they truly want to protect journalists"(Read the oral statement delivered by PEC on PEC NEWS) - PEC warmly welcomes the organization of the panel by the UN and the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay calling for "zero tolerance" (read her statement on PEC NEWS)

Navi Pillay (photo): "States must adopt legislative and policy measures for ensuring the safety and protection of journalists and other media workers, with zero tolerance of any form of violence against journalists, and full accountability for any such violence" (...) "Every act of violence committed against a journalist that goes uninvestigated, and unpunished, is an open invitation for further violence. Ensuring accountability for attacks against journalists is a key element in preventing future attacks."

- 26th session of the Human Rights Council. Written statements delivered by the Press Emblem Campaign on safety of journalists and journalists in Ukraine(read the PEC statements on PEC NEWS)

- PEC AWARD CEREMONY 4 JUNE - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) awarded its annual prize for the protection of journalists Wednesday in Geneva to the Hirondelle Foundation. The PEC Committee thus recognized the support provided by the Foundation to the journalism profession in Africa and its efforts to counter the propaganda and hate that intensify conflict(PEC press release English, French, Spanish and Arabic on PEC NEWS, speeches and more details on our special page PEC AWARD)

- MAY 2014. ALERT. 26nd session of the Human Rights Council - Panel discussion on the safety of journalists11 JUNE(go to our page DOCUMENTS for details)

- MAY 2014. LIBYA. The situation for journalists in Libya is growing increasingly dangerous - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the brutal murder of the well-known journalist Meftah Bouzid in Benghazi Monday 26 May

Meftah Bouzid (50, photo), a prominent Libyan journalist and vocal critic of the country’s jihadists, was shot dead on Monday in the Islamist stronghold of Benghazi, generating a wave of condemnation from domestic and international rights organizations. Bouzid had previously been the subject of death threats for his frequent condemnation of Islamic extremists.

- MAY 2014. UKRAINE. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply saddened about the death of Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli and his russian assistant Andrey Mironov in eastern Ukraine on 24 May. These deaths are horrid reminders that not enough is being done to protect journalists who risk their lives reporting from conflict zones.

Rocchelli (30, photo) and Mironov were killed by mortar fire near Slavyansk where they were covering the conflict ahead of the presidential election. French photographer William Roguelon of Wostok Press was injured during the attack. Rocchelli is the third reporter killed in Ukraine this year and the first foreigner. The PEC calls on authorities in Ukraine to carry out a thorough investigation to find out exactly what happened and ensure those responsible are held accountable.

According to media reports, Times writer Anthony Lloyd (photo) and photographer Jack Hill had spent several days reporting from the city of Aleppo and were returning to the Turkish border early on Wednesday when the car they were travelling in was forced to the side of the road. Lloyd was bound to the back seat of a car, while Hill and a local guide were put in the boot before being driven to a warehouse in the town of Tall Rifat.

Reports say that Hill and a guide attempted to escape, but they were recaptured. Hill was severely beaten while Lloyd was shot in the legs to prevent him from escaping. They were eventually freed and managed to cross the border into Turkey after receiving treatment in a Syrian hospital.

- APRIL 2014. UNITED NATIONS.Secretary-General report to the General Assembly on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 68/163 - PEC contribution(read on PEC NEWS)

- APRIL 2014: PEC VERY CONCERNED BY THE PROPAGANDA WAR IN UKRAINE. Many journalists detained - PEC condemns the occupation of media building(read on OTHER NEWS)

- APRIL 2014: EGYPT. In response to the growing attacks against journalists in Egypt, a group of journalists launched a petition in support for the PEC Draft Convention to Protect Journalists in conflict zones and dangerous situations(read more on PEC NEWS)

- APRIL 2014. AFGHANISTAN. THIRD JOURNALIST KILLED IN ONE MONTH. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) IS SHOCKED AND CONDEMNS THE MURDER OF THE GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHER ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS WORKING FOR ASSOCIATED PRESS(read details, reactions on OTHER NEWS)

Anja Niedringhaus, 48 (photo) an internationally acclaimed German photographer, was killed instantly. Kathy Gannon, 60, a canadian reporter, was wounded twice. The two were traveling in a convoy of election workers delivering ballots to the outskirts of Khost city when the incident took place, AP said. A unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to them as their car was waiting for the convoy to move, shouted God is Great and opened fire on them in the back seat with an AK-47, according to news reports. Anja Niedringhaus was the only woman on a team of 11 AP photographers that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War. That same year she was awarded the International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism prize.

- APRIL 2014. PAKISTAN.Taliban declare war on Media (read the report of the PEC correspondent in Islamabad on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2014. EGYPT. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing of Egyptian woman journalist Mayada Achraf, shot in the neck while covering clashes in demonstrations and awaits the results of investigations(read more on PEC NEWS)

It is not clear who is responsible for the murder of the young woman journalist Mayada Achraf (photo) Friday in Cairo. This tragic event happened exactly when the United Nations discussed at the Human Rights Council a resolution on the right to peaceful protests, including the need to ensure the safety of journalists in demonstrations.

- SYRIA. PEC relieved - Two spanish journalists freed in Syria after six-month ordeal, however others still detained, among them four french journalists kidnapped since June last year(more on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA: PEC deeply concerned about the decision made by the Damascus' Anti-Terrorism Court to prosecute Mazen Darwish, Hussein Hammad Ghrer and Mohamed Hani Al-Zitani -TURKEY: First Twitter, now YouTube – UN rights experts concerned -EGYPT. Trial for three Al-Jazeera staff in Egypt adjourned - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) renews its call for their immediate release - (read more on OTHER NEWS)

- AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condems the horrific murder of Sardar Ahmad. The veteran Afghan reporter with AFP was killed Thursday 20 March along with his wife and two of their children by gunmen at the luxe Serena Hotel in Kabul. Sardar Ahmad, 40, was at Kabul’s Serena hotel when four gunmen opened fire on staff and guests enjoying dinner, killing nine civilians including four foreigners, AFP reports. The Taliban was quick to claim responsibility. Ahmad’s youngest son reportedly survived the attack and has undergone emergency treatment. Ahmad joined AFP in 2003 and became its senior staff reporter in the capital. It is the second murder of a journalist in two weeks in Kabul: on March 11, British-Swedish journalist Nils Horner, 52, was shot dead in broad daylight in a street.

- PEC STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (item 4): "The impunity linked to the crimes committed against media workers fuels those crimes; States have to find the adequate mechanism to effectively protect media workers in conflict zones"(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. PEC STATEMENT DELIVERED AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL IN GENEVA -Report of the Independent international commission of inquiry on the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic (A/HRC/25/65)(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- March a bloody month - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest terms the killing of 5 journalists: 2 in Syria, 2 in Iraq and 1 in Afghanistan during the last four days (March 8 to March 11) (PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

The PEC condemns in the strongest terms the killing of veteran Swedish Radio reporter Nils Horner (photo), shot dead March 11 in Kabul as he conducted interviews ahead of next month’s presidential election in Afghanistan. Nils Horner, 51, had been a Swedish Radio foreign correspondent since 2001. He reported from Afghanistan when the Taliban were forced from power in 2001, from Baghdad when the USA entered in 2003, from Thailand following the Tsunami in 2004, and from Japan after the tsunami and ensuing Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011. The motive for his killing is unknown.

- PALESTINE. MADA's annual report: 229 violations of media freedoms in Palestine during 2013 - the Israeli occupation committed 151 violations, the equivalent of 66%, and various Palestinian parties in the West Bank and Gaza committed 78 violations, which is equivalent to 34% (read the report on OTHER NEWS)

- SYRIA. The PEC is relieved to learn that Marc Marginedas, a reporter for the Barcelona-based El Periódico newspaper, was released Sunday 2 March after six months in captivity in Syria and is now back in Spain. According to El Periódico, Marginedas was kidnapped on 4 September near the city of Hama by the jihadi group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). He was then moved to different locations in areas controlled by rebel groups. ISIS is believed to be holding two other spanish journalists Javier Espinosa and Ricard Garcia Vilanova and four French ones: Français Didier François, Edouard Elias, Nicolas Hénin and Pierre Torrès. The PEC renews its call for their immediate release.

- FEBRUARY 2014. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - 25th session.The necessity to move to a “zero tolerance” culture towards violence against media workers in order to insure their protection(read the PEC written statement submitted to the 25th session of the HRC on PEC NEWS)

- UKRAINE - ONE JOURNALIST KILLED - PEC strongly condemns the murder of a journalist in Kiev and attacks against others seriously injured in the ongoing violences. Vesti writes its journalist Vyacheslav Veremei died Wednesday 19 February after he was shot by unknown men in masks on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street. Veremei and his colleague IT specialist Oleksiy Lymarenko were attacked when they were coming back from work on taxi. The assailants pulled them and the taxi driver out of the car and brutally beat them. Lymarenko and the taxi driver received serious injuries (more on OTHER NEWS)

Dozens of journalists were injured while covering the violent demonstrations in Kiev. Many of these journalists were deliberately targeted and none of their cases have been properly investigated. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls on all parties to show respect for the work and the physical integrity of media personnel, and reminds the Ukrainian authorities of their responsibility to ensure journalists' safety.

- SYRIA. Third year of arbitrary detention for Mazen Darwish with two colleagues - After the failure of the Geneva peace talks PEC reiterates its call for the immediate release of Mazen Darwish, who received the PEC Award in June 2012, his colleagues and all journalists in detention in Syria(go to OTHER NEWS)

- AFRICA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES AND SUPPORTS the newly established freedom of expression network in Africa - The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) deplored the current state of attacks, arrests, detentions, incarcerations and harassments meted out to journalists while on the job in many countries on the continent(read the statement on OTHER NEWS)

- EGYPT. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) DEMANDS THE EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES TO RELEASE THREE JOURNALISTS OF AL JAZEERA(read the statement from international media freedom and human rights organizations - 20 journalists referred to trial - UN very concerned about the increasingly severe clampdown and physical attacks on media in Egypt - see OTHER NEWS)

- PAKISTAN.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expressed grave concern on continuous unabated ‘violence and intimidation’ against media in Pakistan. PEC ANNUAL REPORT FOR PAKISTAN, third deadliest country in 2013 after Syria and Iraq with high environment of impunity - PEC shocked to report on the brutal killing of three employees of a private television channel network in Karachi (full statements on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES WITH GREAT RELIEF THE RELEASE OF TWO SWEDISH JOURNALISTS ABDUCTED IN SYRIA. They were kidnapped on November 23. The PEC renews its call for other journalists detained in Syria to be freed (go to OTHER NEWS)

READ FULL STATEMENT ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH AND ARABIC ON PEC NEWS - LIST OF CASUALTIES, GRAPHS CLICK LEFT ON CASUALTIES

- DECEMBER 2013. IRAQ. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns targeted and suicide attack on Salah al-Din TV station headquarters in Tikrit, Iraq, which left five journalists dead. The attack comes amid a wave of killings of journalists in the past few months that has made Iraq the second deadliest country in the world for journalists with 16 killed after Syria (17 killed) (go to CASUALTIES)

- PAKISTAN. PEC exclusive interview with a senior journalist Mudassar Shah reporting from troubled Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA): "To be a journalist in this region is the most dangerous job"(read on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the abduction of two more foreign journalists - The families of Spanish journalists Javier Espinosa Robles and Ricardo García Vilanova revealed at news conferences in Beirut and Madrid December 10 that the jihadi group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) kidnapped Espinosa and García in Syria’s northern province of Raqqah on 16 September.

Both Espinosa and García are seasoned reporters who have been covering the uprising against the Assad regime since it began in March 2011. Espinosa, 49 (photo), has been based in Beirut as El Mundo’s Middle East correspondent since 2002. García is a freelance photographer and videographer who has been covering wars and humanitarian crises for more than 15 years. After covering the uprising in Libya in 2011, he has done a lot of reporting in Syria in the past two years, winning many awards. The news media he has worked for include Channel 4, APTN, Reuters and Euronews. According to PEC, at least 12 foreign journalists are currently kidnapped or missing in Syria.

- NOVEMBER 2013. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes heartily the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to create an international Day to End Impunity for crimes against journalists - the day will be celebrated each year on November 2(full PEC statement and text of the UN resolution on safety of journalists on PEC NEWS)

- SYRIA. Two Swedish journalists, reporter Magnus Falkehed and photographer Niclas Hammarström are believed to have been abducted 23 November in Syria, according to the Swedish Foreign Ministry. PEC demands their immediate release. More than 10 foreign reporters are held in captivity by foreign groups

Magnus Falkehed (left) is a freelancer for among others Dagens Nyheter. The Swedish photojournalist agency Kontinental, where Niclas Hammarström (right) is a member, had kept regular contact with the journalists in Syria. It was Kontinental that raised the alarm over the weekend.

- The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) marks International Day to End Impunity - at this occasion, Luisa Ballin has interviewed Giuliana Sgrena, the well-known Italian journalist kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq in 2005. Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who has helped secure her release came under fire, one was killed. Eight years after, no prosecution happened. Read her testimony on PEC NEWS (only in French)

- SYRIA - Human rights organizations call on Syrian government to implement the UN Resolution - The Syrian government should immediately release human rights defenders, Mazen Darwish, Hussein Ghareer and Hani Al-Zitani, members of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), and drop all the charges against them(full statement on OTHER NEWS)

- A group of the world’s leading international broadcasters say that the dangers facing their journalists are such that it is difficult to provide accurate reporting from some parts of the world // Journalistes tués: plusieurs médias audiovisuels internationaux appellent le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU à agir(go to OTHER NEWS for the statement)

The profession of journalism more and more dangerous - the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest possible manner the summary executions of French journalists working for Radio France Internationale Ghislaine Dupont (left, 57) and Claude Verlon (right, 55). The journalists were kidnapped and shot after conducting an interview in Kidal, Mali. Their bodies were found about 10 km from the town centre Nov 2.

- PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) while expressing serious concern on the increased violence against media in Pakistan said that impunity is completely enjoyed by the predators of press freedom(go to PEC NEWS for full statement)

- EGYPT. Egypt’s draft constitution is worryingly ambiguous on freedoms of expression and information, the time being now to reach clarity in the guarantee of fundamental rights, writes PEC President Hedayat Abdel Nabi - story published by Al-Ahram Weekly(full story on PEC NEWS)

- OCTOBER 2013. RUSSIA. PEC signed the International petition for the boycott of the winter Olympic Games to free the 30 Greenpeace activists imprisoned in Russia, among them one journalist and one photographer(go to PEC NEWS for the links)

- OCTOBER 2013. SYRIA. Polish photojournalist Marcin Suder, who was kidnapped in Syria in July, has managed to escape his captors and is back home(go to PEC NEWS)

- OCTOBER 2013. SYRIA. Two more journalists missing in Syria: Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia said it lost contact on Tuesday Oct 15 with reporter Ishak Moctar, cameraman Samir Kassab and their Syrian driver - at least 12 foreign journalists now kidnapped or missing in Syria(more info on PEC NEWS)

- OCTOBER 2013. PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemned the killing of a Journalist in yet another act of violence against media in Pakistan and asked the authorities to thoroughly investigate the murder case and bring the culprits to justice(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- OCTOBER 2013. EGYPT. PEC condemns the attack on Egyptian journalist Khaled Daoud at the vicinity of Tahrir square in Cairo(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2013. ONE MORE FOREIGN JOURNALIST MISSING IN SYRIA. Spanish reporter Marc Marginedas kidnapped three weeks ago near Hama

Marc Marginedas' (photo)newspaper El Periódico revealed (September 24) that the Spanish journalist was kidnapped by Jihadi fighters near the city of Hama on 4 september. There has been no news of Marginedas since then and no group has claimed responsibility for his abduction. The Press Emblem Campaign calls for his immediate release.

- SEPTEMBER 2013. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. The PEC expresses its appreciation for the initiatives taken by the Austrian Government and the "core group" at the United Nations to guarantee freedom and protection for the media(read the PEC statement and the decision adopted on PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2013. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. EGYPT. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expresses its concern about the crackdown by the Egyptian authorities on media outlets and the arrest of staff members, which violate international obligations(read the PEC statement delivered at the HRC on PEC NEWS)

Challenges of Media Coverage of the Crisis in Egypt - side-event at the United Nations - read the PEC speech: "Reporting HR violations: the role of international HR organizations"(go to PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2013. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYRIA. The PEC is particularly concerned about the growing phenomenon of abduction and vigorously denounces the inhuman or degrading treatment imposed on journalists, including fake executions. The PEC calls on all factions involved in the Syrian conflict to release all the journalists and media workers (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Statement by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (photo, with Carla del Ponte), Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:

"Syria has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists to work. A disturbing pattern of harassment, arrest and detention of journalists, especially foreigners, has emerged. In the last six weeks, reports have been received of journalists kidnapped by extremist anti-Government armed groups". (Oral update, 16/09/2013)

- SEPTEMBER 2013. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. Presentation of the report of the OHCHR on the safety of journalists - Concrete steps are needed to translate a strong support to the report in reality. Read the PEC oral statement, the call by Austria supported by 72 countries, the IFJ statement(go to PEC NEWS)

- AUGUST 2013. NEW REPORT PUBLISHED BY THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONNER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON SAFETY OF JOURNALISTS - PEC STATEMENT: Protection of journalists: the actual good practices are not sufficient, nor effective enough in combating impunity (read the full statement on PEC NEWS)

- AUGUST 2013. EGYPT. PEC condemns killing of journalists in Egypt and a setback for the freedom of the press // حملة الشارة تدين مقتل مدير مكتب الاهرام في البحيرة (read PEC full statement and the report of the Union of Arab Journalists on recent developments in Egypt When treachery bullets assassin the "truth" on PEC NEWS)

- AUGUST 2013: FOUR JOURNALISTS KILLED IN EGYPT - THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) SADDENED TO HEAR THE DEATH OF SKY NEWS CAMERAMAN MIKE DEANE SHOT AND KILLED IN CAIRO(PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

Sky News cameraman Mick Deane (photo) has been shot and killed covering the violence in Cairo August 14. Mick, 61, had worked for Sky for 15 years, based in Washington and then Jerusalem. The Head of Sky News John Ryley described Mick as the very best of cameramen, a brilliant journalist and an inspiring mentor to many.

- JULY 2013. SYRIA. ONE MORE FOREIGN JOURNALIST KIDNAPPED, polish photojournalist Marcin Suder, in Saraqeb, in the northwestern province of Idlib - still no news of 7 other foreign journalists held in captivity - Cases of journalists going missing or being kidnapped increased at an alarming rate in recent months - PEC calls for their immediate and unconditional release and warns that hostage-taking has become common by some groups to extort money and finance the war in Syria

A freelancer who works for the Corbis agency, the Polish photo-agency Studio Melon and other outlets, Suder (photo) was abducted July 24 during a raid in Saraqeb by an islamist group. The 36-year-old is an experienced war photographer who had worked in Somalia, South Sudan and Chechnya.

- JULY 2013. NO TO IMPUNITY. RUSSIA. Anna Politkovskaya family boycott murder trial over jury - near seven years after, investigators have yet to provide any details of who they believe ordered the killing - PHILIPPINES. The deferment of the arraignment of two of the principal accused in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan town massacre adds to the already long list of delays in the judicial process(read details on our page NO IMPUNITY)

Five men are in court in Moscow in connection with the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, which happened in 2006. A spokeswoman for the family says they are concerned the court will try to speed up the trial to coincide with the anniversary of Politkovskaya's death.

- JULY 2013. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES AN OPEN DEBATE AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL IN NEW YORK ON THE PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS TO ENHANCE THE RESOLUTION 1738 ADOPTED ON 23 DECEMBER 2006 - however the PEC regrets the absence of concrete decisions at the end of the debate - speeches are not enough to improve access and fight impunity(read a UN summary of the meeting held 17 July and some statements on OTHER NEWS)

- JUNE 2013: SIGNS OF HOPE IN IRAN - THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) CALLS ON IRAN NEW PRESIDENT HASSAN ROHANI TO LIFT CENSORSHIP, TO STOP BLOCKING WEBSITES AND TO RELEASE ALL JOURNALISTS DETAINED (go to OTHER NEWS for more)

- JUNE 2013:ISRAEL. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) PROTESTS AGAINST DOUBLE STANDARDS AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCILand deeply regrets personal attacks against the Special rapporteur on human rights in the palestinian territories Richard Falk(read on PEC NEWS the statement delivered on behalf of 19 NGOs)

- JUNE 2013: PEC STATEMENTS DELIVERED AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON PALESTINE AND THE VIENNA DECLARATION(full statements on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2013: PEC AWARD CEREMONY 2013 - PEC award 2013 has been awarded to the Director of Cerigua in Guatemala, Ileana Alamilla, to cartoonist McDonald from Honduras and to two ambassadors, that of Austria Thomas Hajnoczi and of Switzerland Alexandre Fasel (click left on PEC AWARD for press releases, press reports, photos, speeches, bios)

The PEC Prize 2013 for the protection of journalists has been awarded 6 June at the Swiss Press Club in Genevato Ileana Alamilla (Guatemala), Allan McDonald (Honduras), ambassador Alexandre Fasel (Switzerland) and ambassador Thomas Hajnoczi (Austria).

- JUNE 2013. TURKEY. PEC draw the Human Rights Council’s attention to press freedom and the situation for journalists in Turkey and protests in Istanbul, where reporters and journalists have been victims of both targeted attacks and indiscriminate violence used by police to disperse demonstrators(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2013. SYRIA. PEC STATEMENT DELIVERED AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYRIA(read on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2013. PEC STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FRANK LA RUE(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2013. High environment of impunity in Pakistan(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2013. SYRIA - URGENT DEBATE AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - PEC STATEMENT: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) follows with grave concern the evolution of the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic, notably concerning the access of media workers to the territory (read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2013:PEC SAYS IN AMMAN NO RETURN TO HANDCUFFS ON MEDIA WORK IN THE MIDDLE EAST(read the full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2013: ANOTHER JOURNALIST HELD IN SYRIA - GERMAN REPORTER ARMIN WERTZ ENTERED THE CONFLICT-TORN COUNTRY EARLY MAY - AT LEAST FIVE FOREIGN JOURNALISTS DETAINED OR MISSING IN SYRIA(Read: reinforcement of security guidelines for coverage in Syria by AFP - go to OTHER NEWS)

According to the german newspaper Tagesspiegel, Armin Wertz (photo) told on May 5 by SMS that he was being held by Syrian police in Aleppo. In a new message on Sunday May 12, the reporter asked for help. PEC calls for its immediate release and evacuation, as fighting intensifies in Aleppo. The reporter writing on a freelance basis for german and asian media is at least the fifth foreign journalist detained or missing in Syria with two Americans Austin Tice and James Foley (since last year), Italian Dominico Quirico (since April) and Palestinian Bashar Fahmi Al-Kadumi (since August 2012)

- MAY 2013. TURKEY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls on the Human Rights Council’s attention to the severe conditions Kurdish journalists have to face in their country. Almost three-quarter out of the more than 200 journalists imprisoned in Turkey are from the medias that criticize the governmental policy towards the Kurdish people(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2013. MEXICO. PEC APPALLED BY MURDERS OF TWO CHILDREN OF WELL-KNOWN JOURNALISTS(go to PEC NEWS)

Hundreds of journalists and human rights defenders staged marches in 14 Mexican states to demand an end to the barbarity that targets them, and an end to impunity (April 28).

Italian daily La Stampa says its correspondent in Syria has been missing for about 20 days. 62 year-old Domenico Quirico (photo), an experienced war reporter, entered Syria on April 6 from Lebanon. His last contact was a text message sent on April 9 to an Italian colleague from state TV, saying he was on the road to Homs.

- APRIL 2013. PAKISTAN: PEC worried by the death of a ninth journalist since January ahead of general polls(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- APRIL 2013. PARAGUAY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is worried by the second murder of a journalist in the north-east of Paraguay this year - an alarming trend: 12 journalists were killed since January in Latin America, 5 only in April(go to PEC NEWS for more)

- APRIL 2013. PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemned the suicide bomb attack on a political party rally in Pakistan’s Northwestern city of Peshawar in which among others, a Pakistani print journalist was killed and two other media persons sustained injuries(go to PEC NEWS for full statement).

- APRIL 2013. SYRIA. PEC CONDEMNS THREATS TO AL-JAZEERA AND AL-ARABIYA CHANNELS BY SYRIAN BUSINESSMAN - DETENTION OF FOUR ITALIAN JOURNALISTS BY REBEL GROUP(go to PEC NEWS for more)

Four italian journalists have been kidnapped in the north of Syria, on the border with Turkey, by a rebel group April 5. According to news reports, the abducted were one reporter working for the Italian public broadcaster RAI Amedeo Ricucci (photo) and three freelance journalists Andrea Viganli, Elio Colavolpe and Susan Dabbous. PEC welcomed their release on April 13.

A TV correspondent for German public broadcaster ARD Jörg Armbruster, 65 (photo), was seriously wounded by gunfire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo March 29, then evacuated to Turkey and Stuttgart April 1. The veteran journalist had been based in Cairo until January 2013, where he had reported on events in the Arab World.

- MARCH 2013. PEC STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. Promoting the safety of journalists and fighting impunity must not be constrained to after-the-fact, but required prevention mechanisms to address the root causes of violence(go to PEC NEWS for full statement)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) delivered five oral statements and made two written contributions on the occasion of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (photo of room XX at the United Nations)

- MARCH 2013. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply concerned about the difficulties Palestinian journalists have to face in carrying out their duty - PEC statement at the Human Rights Council(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2013. TURKEY. PEC statement delivered at the Human Rights Council - 22nd session. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) draws the attention of the Council on the severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the difficult conditions in which some journalists can carry out their mission in Turkey, particularly those of Kurdish origin(full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2013. SYRIA.Human Rights Council - 22nd session. Report of the Independent international commission of inquiry on the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic - PEC STATEMENT: "Journalists have the duty to inform and denounce all human rights violations, particularly when they could constitute crimes of war or crimes against humanity. In the absence of any images of those atrocities it is very difficult to mobilize the public opinion in order to stop the massacres"...(go to PEC NEWS for full statement)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochneva (photo). Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday 12 March confirmed that the journalist is free after 150 days in captivity. Kochneva, who has written for Syrian and Russian newspapers, was kidnapped in western Syria on Oct. 9 and reportedly held by members of the Free Syrian Army opposition group.

- MARCH 2013. PAKISTAN. PEC appreciates and supports ‘the International Friends of Media Alliance on Safety’ and UN action Plan in Pakistan - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemned three Pakistani journalists’ killings during last week in separate incidents, one in lawless Northwestern tribal region, one in Balochistan and another in Karachi(PEC statements, documents of the conference on PEC NEWS)

- FEBRUARY 2013. SYRIA. PEC IS SHOCKED BY THE DEATH OF A FOURTH FRENCH REPORTER OLIVIER VOISIN - REMEMBER - Mazen Darwish detained over a year - Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik killed at Homs one year ago - PEC renews its call for the release of Mazen Darwish and his colleagues with immediate effect - PEC supports a new campaign launched by journalists: please visit: www.adaywithoutnews.com(PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- FEBRUARY 2013. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) submitted two written statements to the attention of the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on freedom of the press(go to PEC NEWS for the PEC statements)

- FEBRUARY 2013: SOMALIA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) welcomes Somali Prime Minister’s pledge for justice to the Somali Journalists and hopes it will put an end to journalists' killings in Somalia(go to page NO IMPUNITY)

- FEBRUARY 2013: PAKISTAN, A FOURTH JOURNALIST KILLED IN THE TRIBAL AREAS(go to PEC NEWS)

- FEBRUARY 2013. PEC CALLS ON MEXICO’S NEW REGIME TO STOP PRESS KILLINGS AND HONOR THE NEW LAW TO PROTECT THEM //LLAMA PEC AL GOBIERNO MEXICANO DETENER MATANZA DE PERIODISTAS Y RESPALDAR LA LEY DE PROTECCION(PEC statement English and Spanish on PEC NEWS)

- FEBRUARY 2013. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) PUBLISHED ITS ANNUAL REPORT ON ITS ACTIVITIES IN 2012AND LAUNCHES A NEW PAGE ON ITS WEBSITE(go to PEC NEWS, new page NO IMPUNITY)

- JANUARY 2013. PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expressed its solidarity with the Pakistani journalists and family members of the slain journalists who staged a sit-in outside the country’s parliament on Jan 28 demanding for the arrest of journalists’ killers and provision of compensation to their families(go to PEC NEWS)

- JANUARY 2013. SYRIA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) SADDENED AND DISMAYED BY THE DEATHS OF BELGIAN-BORN FRENCH JOURNALIST YVES DEBAY IN ALEPPO, ONE YEAR AFTER THE KILLING OF GILLES JACQUIER IN HOMS,ANDANOTHER REPORTER WORKING FOR AL-JAZEERA (go to PEC NEWS)

Belgian-born French journalist Yves Debay (58)(photo) was shot by snipers once in the head and once in the chest in Aleppo. He was taken to Turkey, where medical staff pronounced him dead. Another journalist Al-Jazeera reporter Mohamed Al-Massalma was shot three times while covering the front lines in the town of Busra Al-Harir in the countryside of Daraa on Friday.

American freelance reporter James Foley (39) (photo) was kidnapped in Syria six weeks ago and has been missing since then, his family revealed Wednesday January 2nd. An experienced war reporter he was seized by armed men in the northern province of Idlib on November 22, according to witnesses. Foley worked for Agence France-Presse, GlobalPost and contributed to major US TV channels.

El-Hosseini Abul-Deif (photo), a journalist at El-Fagr newspaper, opposed to the Egyptian President, was shot in the head for photographs he has taken and was critically injured during the clashes at the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis, Egypt on Wednesday. Reports blamed members of the Muslim Brotherhood for the attack. He died on Wednesday 12 December

Nicolas Bouvier (1929-1998) (photo) was a Swiss writer and photographer. His travels all over the world incited him to recount his experiences and adventures like a journalist. His journey in 1954 from Geneva to Japan was in many ways prescient. His most famous books are The Way of the World, The Japanese Chronicles, and The Scorpion Fish. The Bouvier Prize for Journalism is awarded every two years.

Bangladesh journalists demonstrated at the UN Vienna International Center and at the Press Club during the two-day meeting on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. They called for an investigation in the murders of four journalists in Bangladesh killed in the past 10 months.

- INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY: PALESTINE, PAKISTAN, SOMALIA, LATIN AMERICA... read reports on page OTHER NEWS

- NOVEMBER 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the opening of the meeting in Vienna on the safety of journalists and the civil society statement to the meeting(go to PEC NEWS for the statement of the civil society)

- NOVEMBER 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns targeted killings of journalists in Gaza, renewed attacks against media buildings by Israel(see PEC statement on PEC NEWS, reports on PRESS and OTHER NEWS)

- NOVEMBER 2012. ISRAEL STRIKES MEDIA BUILDING IN GAZA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest possible manner the targeting of media installations in Gaza as well as homes of media professionals //حملة الشارة تدين و بقوة استهداف المنشآت الإعلامية و منازل الصحفيين في غزة(PEC statement English and Arabic on PEC NEWS, reports on PRESS and OTHER NEWS)

- NOVEMBER 2012. DO NOT MISS the UN Inter-Agency Meeting on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity organized by UNESCO in Vienna (Austria) on 22 and 23 November - looking for further progress on the issue of protection of journalists, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes this timely and important meeting(see media advisory on PEC NEWS)

The Vienna meeting will launch implementation of UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists for the next two years. This strategy will include international, regional and national activities. The PEC will attend the meeting in Vienna with many other professional organizations and NGOs.

- NOVEMBER 2012. SYRIA. AMERICAN REPORTER AUSTIN TICE MISSING SINCE THREE MONTHS. THE PEC CALLS FOR HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE(see reports on PRESS)

Austin Tice (31, photo) last contacted his family on August 13 while in Syria reporting on the uprising there against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At a press conference in Beirut (Lebanon), on November 12, Tice's mother, Debra Tice, called on her son's captors to release him. Three other foreign journalists are missing in Syria (PEC).

- SEPTEMBER 2012. ORAL STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - The PEC welcomes the initiative taken by Austria and the core group for the safety of journalists and sees the draft resolution L.6 as a big step forward. The PEC calls the Council’s members to adopt by consensus the resolution L.6(read full statement on PEC NEWS)

The PEC congratulates Member States of the UN for drafting a resolution on the protection of journalists. Speaking at the HRC chaired by Ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre (photo) the NGO calls for the adoption of the resolution by consensus

- SEPTEMBER 2012. SOMALIA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE BARBARIC ATTACKS THAT KILLED FOUR JOURNALISTS IN MOGADISHU BRINGING THE TOTAL IN SOMALIA TO 13 THIS YEAR(read on pages OTHER NEWS and PRESS)

- SEPTEMBER 2012. TURKEY. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) expresses its deepest concern about the arrest of dozen of journalists charged under the Turkish anti-terror law(read the PEC statement at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2012. SYRIA. PEC STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. The PEC calls on the IICI to dedicate a section in his next report to the violence against media workers and the measures taken by the various parties to the conflict to protect them and to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and convicted(read the full statement on PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2012. Journalists killed in a record number - the PEC welcomes a high-level meeting in New York to enhance the protection of journalists(full statement on PEC NEWS, see also PRESS)

- SEPTEMBER 2012. Impunity as an engine of journalists’ killings - PEC written statement for the UN Human Rights Council 21th session(read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is horrified and deeply saddened by the death of a fourth foreign journalist in Syria since January. A Japanese reporter Mika Yamamoto (photo) (45) was killed after coming under fire from pro-government troops in the conflict-wracked Syrian city of Aleppo.

- JULY-AUGUST 2012: SYRIA.Two Western photographers freed in Syria after being held hostage for a week by Islamic extremists- Two Ankara-based Al Jazeera correspondents and three other journalists were wounded while reporting in Aleppo - Syrian state television headquarters rocked by bomb blast, State TV presenter executed in Damascus -Syrian state news agency Sana and Arab satellite station report deaths of two journalists in the capital - Reporter for Iran TV said abducted by rebels in Syria (read all stories on PRESS)

- AUGUST 2012: SOMALIA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) STRONGLY CONDEMNED THE MURDER OF THREE SOMALI JOURNALISTS IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS IN MOGADISHU IN TWO WEEKS- 9 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN SOMALIA SINCE JANUARY (read full report on OTHER NEWS)

Mohamud Ali Keyre (Buneyste) (photo) was murdered on Sunday evening (12 August 2012) after being struck in the head by a bullet journalists believe was fired by government affiliated armed men (PEC)

- JULY 2012. EGYPT-SUDAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) praised the efforts that led to the release of the detained Egyptian journalist Shaimaa Adel in Khartoum, Sudan(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- JULY 2012. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES AS A STEP FORWARD THE JOINT STATEMENT DELIVERED BY AUSTRIA ON BEHALF OF A GROUP OF 56 STATES AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON SAFETY OF JOURNALISTS(Read the statement on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the attack on the Syrian TV station Al-Ikhbariya near Damascus where three journalists and four other employees were killed(read the PEC statement at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes 2 major UN reports on protection of journalists delivered at the Human Rights Council:Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns and Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue(go to PEC NEWS and PRESS)

UN Special Rapporteurs Christof Heyns and Frank La Rue at a side event on protection of journalists in Geneva, 20 June 2012 (photo PEC)

Mazen Darwish and his colleagues of the Center for media freedom (SCM) are detained in Damascus since February 16 - other activists are prosecuted - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls for their immediate release

At a press conference in Geneva organized by PEC, the President of Syrian Democrats Dr Tawfik Chamaa called for a military intervention to stop the bloodshed in Syria (photo keystone)

- JUNE 2012. SYRIA. PEC STATEMENT at theHuman Rights Council - 19th Special Session - The deteriorating human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the recent killings in El-Houleh(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2012. THE PEC strongly condemns the murder of a sixth journalist in Somalia since the beginning of 2012(see report on OTHER NEWS)

- MAY 2012. The Doha Forum’s workshop on the recommendations of the International Conference on the Protection of Journalists is a welcome step in further calling international attention to and action on the unabated murders of media workers in many parts of the world - 60 killed since January as of today, said the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) -see reports on OTHER NEWS

- MAY 2012. MEXICO. PEC strongly condemns murder of three more journalists in Mexico, four in a week (see reports on PRESS)

Mazen Darwish (photo) and his male colleagues Hussein Ghrer; Abd Rahman Al Hamada; Hani Zateni; and Mansour Al Omarie, are still detained since February. According to the Syrian Journalists Union, Mazen Darwish, held in solitary confinement, is suffering from a worsening health condition, after being tortured. In addition women staff at the Center Yara Bader; Razan Ghazzoui; Sanaa Meshn; Ayham Ghazzoul; Joan Ferso; and Bassam Al Ahmad have been summoned in front of the judge of the military justice in Damascus (PEC)

- MARCH 2012. SYRIA.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes strongly the adoption at the Human Rights Council of resolution A/HRC/19/L.38/Rev 1 on Syria presented by Denmark (on behalf of EU) and supported by a large number of countries condemning attacks against journalists and asking for full and unhindered access. The PEC calls for its immediate implementation on the ground (go to PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2012. CHINA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply concerned that Chinese officials have announced the closure to foreigners of the “Tibet Autonomous Region” from February 20 to March 31, 2012 as well as the close off of Tibetan areas in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces that have seen protests, crackdown and self-immolations(to read the PEC full statement at the Human Rights Council click left on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2012. SYRIA. REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL(read on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2012. PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN STATEMENT AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS - general debate(read full statement on PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2012.Urgent debate onSYRIA. The Press Emblem Campaign PEC welcomes the adoption of the resolution by the Human Rights Council on the escalating grave human rights violations and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic - statement delivered by PEC (click left on PEC NEWS, see also last news on PRESS)

- FEBRUARY 2012.Statement delivered at the Human Rights Council by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) on the occasion of the "Panel discussion on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression on the internet"(read full statement on PEC NEWS)

- JANUARY 2012. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the recommendations of the International Conference on the Protection of Journalists in Dangerous Situations (Doha, Qatar, 22 and 23 January) as a historic milestone and an important step forward to enhance the protection of media employees in conflict zones(see PEC NEWS and PRESS)

- NOVEMBER 2011. FIRST INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST IMPUNITY. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) JOINED OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO CALL GOVERNMENTS TO PREVENT AND PUNISH VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS(Read on page OTHER NEWS)

- NOVEMBER 2011. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the Vienna Expert Consultations on „Safety of Journalists: Towards a more effective international protection framework”(read on PEC NEWS, SEE ALSO PRESS)

- OCTOBER 2011.The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) heartily congratulates Yemeni journalist Tawakkol Karman for winning this year's Nobel Peace Prize.As an active woman journalist, Korman has achieved a dual victory by not only honoring the profession by being at the center of the struggle but also a woman leading the news of the day(read the full PEC statement on PEC NEWS, English, Arabic)

- SEPTEMBER 2011. LIBYA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls the International Commission of Inquiry to consider pursuing its investigations into the fate of media professionals. The PEC calls upon the new transitional government in Libya to rapidly investigate in all the incidents that involved the killing, kidnapping and ambushing of journalists and to report to the International Commission(read on PEC NEWS the PEC statement at the Human Rights Council) (new journalists injured, see PRESS)

- SEPTEMBER 2011. PEC calls on the Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution which will allow the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a study that will document the grave violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms of journalists in the last 10 years and to investigate causes and consequences of these violations; propose the best means to protect journalists in zones of conflict or civil unrest(read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2011. PEC STATEMENT AT THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. There is an urgent need to specifically protect journalists in the context of peaceful protests which could degenerate in violence(read the statement on PEC NEWS)

- AUGUST 2011. LIBYA. Journalists freed unharmed from Rixos hotel after being held by Gaddafi gunmen in Tripoli: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expresses relief - other journalists wounded and kidnapped - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the flagrant attacks against journalists and hostage taking in Libya. The situation in Libya remains very dangerous, warns the NGO. (click left on PEC NEWS for the PEC statement, on PRESS for details)

- AUGUST 2011. SYRIA. Special session of the Human Rights Council. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urges the Syrian Arab Republic to lift all restrictions on the exercise of the profession of journalist and to free all journalists imprisoned for reasons related to the exercise of their profession; to grant immediate access to the country to any foreign journalist who wants to fulfill his mission on the Syrian territory(read the PEC statement at the Human Rights Council on PEC NEWS)

- JUNE 2011: La Presse Emblème Campagne (PEC) soulagée par la libération des journalistes français otages depuis un an et demi en Afghanistan - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) rejoices by the release of the two French journalists in Afghanistan after a year and a half in captivity(go to PEC NEWS, PRESS)

- APRIL 2011. LIBYA. Two photoreporters killed in Misrata - four journalists killed in Libya(go to PEC NEWS, PRESS for details) - Journalists still detained and missing in Libya - (read articles on PRESS)

- APRIL 2011: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) denounces the killing of 21 journalists during the first 3 months of 2011 (22 for the same period in 2010) in 12 countries - Iraq (4 journalists killed) and Pakistan (3 killed) most dangerous countries(see details on page Ticking Clock)

Journalists in Libya facing heavy risks to cover the conflict - Read the full story of New York Times journalists held and tortured in Libya (link to NYT story on our page PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2011. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warmly welcomes the new Secretary-General of the IFJ amidst growing dangers for journalists in Libya(go to PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2011. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest possible manner the ambush prepared for Aljazeera crew near Benghazi that left its cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber dead(go to PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2011. Oral statement of the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) at the Human Rights Council: the PEC calls upon the United Nations to take concrete steps (see PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2011. CHINA. THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) CONCERNED BY USE OF FORCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN CHINA.More Crackdown Incidents; Authorities Use Force to Prevent Reporting of Jasmine Rallies(go to OTHER NEWS)

- DECEMBER 2010: ALERT PAKISTAN: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC)strongly condemns the killing of four journalists in two weeks (go to OTHER NEWS, TICKING CLOCK)

- DECEMBER 2010. WIKILEAKS, the US Embassy Cables and the right to know: read opinions on our page OTHER NEWS

- NOVEMBER 2010. PHILIPPINES. GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION: NEVER AGAIN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins a global day of action to mark the Ampatuan massacre, one year after. On November 23, 2009, 32 journalists and media workers were brutally murdered in a massacre of at least 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao in the southern Philippines. The PEC marking this date is sending a letter to the new President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino calling upon the President to take serious steps to ensure that justice is delivered to the families of the killed journalists(go to PEC NEWS for letter and more)

- NOVEMBER 2010. RUSSIA. A TURNING POINT ? MOSCOW JOURNALIST ATTACKERS WILL BE PUNISHED, SAID PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV(go to PEC NEWS and see the video of the attack against Russian journalist Oleg Kashin)

- NOVEMBER 2010: UPR review of the United States at the UN Human Rights Council - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls for the protection of the WikiLeaks investigative journalism(photo Julian Assange). WikiLeaks has come under increasing pressure since July, when it first published 77,000 secret U.S. documents on the war in Afghanistan. "We have never faced such difficulties as an organization as in the past three months," he said in Geneva, flanked by two bodyguards (go to PEC NEWS)

- SEPTEMBER 2010: THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC) WELCOMES THE REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONNER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS on the panel discussion on the protection of journalists in armed conflictand suppports its recommendations (A/HRC/15/54). We publish the full report in order to disseminate the report (go to PEC NEWS)

- JULY 2010: ALERT IRAQ - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest possible manner the attack by a suicide car bomb in Baghdad on the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya in which four employees and two members of the public were killed(go to PEC NEWS, PRESS, OTHER NEWS)

More than 20 States and a dozen NGOs made oral statements during a three hours' discussion with six experts on protection of journalists in armed conflict, the first one at the Human Rights Council. Many speakers stressed the need to fight impunity (photo: during the debate in room XX at the United Nations' building in Geneva) (go to PEC NEWS)

- APRIL 2010: Reuters' cameraman killed in demonstrations in Bangkok(see PRESS) - First video of two French journalists kidnapped in December in Afghanistan (go to OTHER NEWS) - ALERT NIGERIA: 3 journalists killed (go to PRESS)

- APRIL 2010: IRAQ. SEVEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins media organisations across the world in commemorating the seven-year anniversary of two attacks by the United States in Iraq which resulted in the deaths of several journalists. This year’s April 8 anniversary coincides with publication by Wikileaks of a video which reportedly portrays a US military helicopter in July 2007 opening fire on and killing civilians in Baghdad, among them Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Sameed Chmagh(click left on: OTHER NEWS)

- MARCH 2010: GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE PRESS EMBLEM CAMPAIGN (PEC): THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HAS ACCEPTED A RESOLUTION TO ORGANIZE A PANEL ON THE PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS IN SITUATIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT (go to PEC NEWS for PEC statement, text of the resolution, intervention of the Egyptian ambassador)

- MARCH 2010: THE PEC WELCOMES SUPPORT OF MEMBERS OF SWISS PARLIAMENT ON PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS (go to PEC NEWS)

- NOV. 2009.The massacre of 59 civilians, including 32 journalists, in the Philippines highlights the need to act against private militias and warlords angered by stories uncovering corruption. President Arroyo’s decisions so far not enough to fight impunity, said the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) (go to PEC News, read other reactions on OTHER NEWS, PRESS)

- NOV 2009. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes statements on protection of journalists at the international conference on "60 years of the Geneva Conventions and the decades to come" and suppports Kofi Annan's call "to undermine the culture of denial"(go for our statement to: PEC NEWS)

- NOV 2009. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) very concerned by the ban on media in Pakistan(go to: OTHER NEWS)

- JUNE 2009: ceremony for the first Prize for the Protection of Journalists (go to: PEC AWARD)

- JUNE 2009: the Press Emblem Campaign supports conclusions and recommendations on Safety and protection of media professionnals submitted to the Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue(go to PEC NEWS)

- NOV 2008: the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins the world media in denouncing the ban on media coverage in Gaza(go to PEC NEWS)

- NOV 2008: Launch of an informal working group on the Protection of Journalists between UN member states and the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC). Some 20 UN missions and 40 participants responded positively to the PEC invitation(click left on PEC NEWS for photos and details)

- NOV 2008: Barack Obama new US President - The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) rejoices with the American people, looks forward to a more right and just world(go to PEC NEWS)

- SEPT 2008: Iraq - PEC appalled at the attack against the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists and his president and co-founder of the PEC Moaid Al-Lamy (go to PEC NEWS)

- SEPT 2008: Georgia - visiting Geneva, the president of the Independent Association of Georgian Journalists requests the UN member States to discuss the needs for the legal protection of journalists in conflict zones (go to PEC NEWS)

- MAY 2008 - LEBANON: PEC strongly condemns the wave of attacks on the Lebanese media (go to PEC NEWS and OTHER NEWS)

- MAY 2008 - BURMA: PEC denounces in the strongest possible manner denial of access to journalists in Burma - Access to information must be enabled to ensure effective relief in aftermath of cyclone. It can save numerous lives (go to PEC NEWS)

- APRIL 2008: PEC CONDEMNS THE KILLING OF REUTERS CAMERAMAN IN GAZA (go to PEC NEWS and PRESS for details and Reuters story)

- APRIL 2008: at least 20 journalists killed since the beginning of the year - global consultation: PEC reminds UN member States to react to the draft convention (go to PEC NEWS)

- MARCH 2008: special - 7th session of the Human Rights Council - possible measures for the protection of journalists (go to PEC NEWS) - TIBET: PEC urges full independant media access (go to OTHER NEWS for reports on Tibet)